Haunted Magazine Issue 25: Help! This Magazine is Haunted! by Dead Good Publishing Ltd

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FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT: Where there’s a flame there’s a Paranormal claim... SOMETHING WICCA THIS WAY COMES.. Does Witchcraft have its place in Ghost Hunting?

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H A V E

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HERE COMES THE MIRROR MAN: (but) is he a people's fan?

S L A T R O P M FRO

S E I X I P TO

DESTINATION FEAR: Interview with Dakota Laden

ABOUT T N R A E L E W S G 10 THIN TED N U A H IS E S U O H HELP! MY

SUMMER SOLSTICE: Secrets in a Leicestershire Graveyard?

Also Featuring:

DEREK ACORAH 1950-2020 "the cheeky scouser who wore his heart on his sleeve and loved everybody" We remember the legend...

Spooks, Shadows, Woods, Mirrors, Witches, Witchcraft, Hauntings, Haunted Houses, Haunted Hospitals, Haunted History, Comic Strip, Mysteries, Stairs, Scares, News, Views, Muse, Boos and so much more...

"I DO CHORES AROUND THE HOUSE TO HELP ME PAY FOR MY GHOST HUNTING..." Madison Smith on the Paranormal, Pendulums & Pocket Money

CO NTENTS EDITORIAL LOVE, LIGHT AND UNICORN FARTS… To be honest the editorial bit on this page of the magazine can do one this issue. At the beginning of 2020 the paranormal world mourned the loss of Derek Acorah, including us here at Haunted Magazine. No one else has ever been in the mag as much as Derek, he was in the first ever issue and did two big interviews in 2011 and 2017 and despite what a few people thought of him, to us he was the very embodiment of the paranormal encompassing the spiritual, the drama and the entertainment parts of it too. There was no one quite like Derek and there never will be. This issue of the magazine is dedicated to Derek, it’s full of paranormal stuff, it has the odd dramatic / controversial moment, it’s packed full of paranormal stuff and we know that he’s up there looking down thinking “those cheeky Haunted chappies, I am tickled pink for them doing this, god bless them” AND you know what, Mary may very well love Dick, BUT here at Haunted Magazine, we love Derek, always have, always will. We hope you enjoy the magazine.

Paul

#DontBeNormal BE PARANORMAL!!

Derek Acorah, RIP 1950-2020

MEMORIAM … DEREK ACORAH: King of the Paranormal 04 IN(1950-2020) AT T’MOON … Mike Covell, A ‘reight’ champion that lad, 06 BARK writes about t’ghost dogs of Yorkshire THIS FEATURE IS HAUNTED … As season 2 ends, we take 11 HELP! a look back at what HMHIH brought To Paranormal TV GRAVE ERROR … Does a Leicestershire Graveyard Hold A 15 AGrisly Secret? DAKOTA … Laden with all the information you 17 DESTINATION need about Destination Fear THE WISE WOODS … The Most Haunted Woods on 20 INTO Dartmoor? TALE OF TWO CURSES … Nicky Alan and a spook have a bit of 24 Aa swear off! WIZARDESS OF OZ … Sarah Chumacero is definitely NOT 26 THE in Kansas anymore OR SWIM, WHAT’S AT STAKE … Does Witchcraft have a 28 SINK place in modern Ghost Hunting? Q … The second concluding part of the epic ‘Last Orders on 33 DR Lovecraft Lane’ CONTRIBUTION … Paranormal chat with award winner 37 SPECIAL Ben Canham MIRROR ON THE WALL … Jane Rowley reflects on her 40 MIRROR, journey through the looking glass SO ‘ORRIBLE HISTORIES … Silent but deadly, the rushing 42 NOT Russian Frighter pilots WHEN YOU’RE SPOKANE TO … Amanda Paulson steps 44 SPOOK up to the plate 46 SCREAMS, BEERS, SCARES, ALES and WALES … 51 BEANS, Spook-Eats samples the foodie delights & spooky frights of the UK 54 BY ESTEP GUIDE … That Haunted Hospitals Guy visits wait 57 STEP for it… A Haunted Hospital! … Do they offer you protection, a lot of love and 62 ANGELS affection? HOT, HOT, HOT … Morgan Knudsen heats up the 64 FEELING Paranormal THE YOUNG ONES - Shouldn’t be afraid … We catch up with 12-year old Ghost Hunter Madison Smith (Ahem, sorry Paranormal Investigator)

POLITICAL PARANORMAL PARTY … Spooky shadows haunting a Conservative Club?

Haunted Magazine

DEREK ACORAH 19 5 0 -2 0 2 0

Haunted Magazine

“I would do anything not to be writing this today, but I would like to pay tribute to my wonderful husband Derek Acorah who sadly passed away to spirit in the very early hours of 4th January.

Well what can I say about Derek Acorah, firstly he opened the door to the public ghost hunting industry and secondly, he was one hell of a stage medium!

Derek was and ever will be the cheeky scouser who wore his heart on his sleeve and loved everybody. It didn›t matter who you were or where you came from, he treated all the same. As many will know his first love was football and he began a career as a professional with Liverpool Football Club under the great Bill Shankly but sadly it was not meant for him and in his late twenties he had to retire as a professional footballer and fulfil his destiny in working for Spirit just as his grandmother had predicted.

I would personally like to give thanks and praise to Derek for allowing the paranormal and mediumship world to be opened up, as I believe we wouldn’t be where we are now without him!

Derek first came to the public eye on local radio but soon progressed in to working in television in the late 90s and he didn›t look back. Derek never professed to be the best medium in the world - he had no ego in that direction. As he always used to say.... he got lucky! He was in the right place at the right time. He came into Spiritualism and the Paranormal when it was new and fresh. Yes, there had been mediums on tv before him but not constantly as he was. They were featured more as a curiosity. Paranormal groups were working before Most Haunted came along (in spite of claims that I have heard) but it was Most Haunted that catapulted ghost investigation in to the popularity that it enjoys today, largely because of that cheeky Scouser who led the team as their medium. Many things have been written about Derek in this regard and one day I will commit pen to paper and tell Derek’s story which isn’t the rubbish that was put around about him by some.

I’ve known Derek (and Gwen) for many years now, we’ve supported each other through the tough times of the metaphysical work. They’ve always been cherished friends and I know that Derek will be flying high now (along with the late Colin Fry) with a glass of red wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other.... typical Derek & Colin.

Fly high Derek my dear friend... and maybe you’ll want to haunt a few people now!

Barrie John x

When I first worked with Derek back in 2002, it was with some in trepidation. Here was a man I had seen on TV, a larger than life character, and I was a relative stranger who was gate-crashing his stage. As it happens, I need not have been so concerned. Derek was a warm and friendly soul from the get-go with me, something I will always remember him for. We had some very memorable times, many of which involved laughter, whenever we got together. One of my everlasting memories was during the filming in the basement of a location, with just Derek and me. Suddenly - and this is the only time I have ever had this happen - I saw a blue ball of light fly left to right and vanish into the corner of the basement. I turned to Derek, and I kid you not, both of us at the same time asked each other if we had just seen it! We both described the same thing! Bizarre, but a private moment we - and only we - both shared together at that time. My wife Sara and I still cannot get our heads around Derek being gone. It doesn’t seem real somehow. He was showman. He was a larger than life character. He was my friend, and someone I will miss dearly. RIP Derek.

Phil Whyman x

Derek was passionate about what he did. He loved his work and nothing more than helping people who were dealing with grief in some cases and the just curious in other cases. He also loved going on investigations. He adored tuning in to the atmosphere to see what he could pick up in the various locations that he visited, He was never a historian and was sometimes amazed at some of the information he came across.... asking me ‘Is that so?’ He had a huge following because he was ‘just Derek’. He got on with everybody and more importantly people related to him because he was so complicated. He was a lovely man and I’ve no doubt whatsoever that he’s equally loved ‘up there’. I will miss his physical presence in my life enormously but know that in time he will continue to walk by my side. He would have been so honoured and pleased that Haunted Magazine have chosen to pay tribute to him in such a way. To use one of his expressions - he would be ‘’tickled pink”! I would like to thank Paul, Andy and everyone associated with Haunted Magazine for doing this for Derek... my husband, the legend and the King of the Paranormal!”

Gwen Acorah x

Haunted Magazine

WHO LET T’DOGS OUT?

By Mike Covell, t’Yorkshire Historian

THE GHOST DOGS OF YORKSHIRE

linked to stories of harm and even death. Across the UK the names of these dogs change from region to region, including names such as Barguist, Black Shuck, Black Shock, Grim, Gytrash, Old Shuck, Padfoot, Shag, Shuck, Shock, Shrieker, Striker, Trash, Yeth Hound, and Wisht Hounds.

“It’s chuffin’ roastin’ out.”

hen we think of spectral dogs, and phantom hounds, the first thought would be of The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, yet when we go back through history there are many stories of spectral hounds that roam the countryside. In fact, Bram Stoker included a mysterious black dog in his book Dracula and stated that it was seen running up the 199 steps towards St. Mary’s Church and Whitby Abbey. Some years ago, when I was enlisted in an investigation of the infamous “Beast of Barmston Drain,” which the media took it upon themselves to name “Old Stinker,” I was asked whether the sightings of the strange creature could be ghostly, given that Yorkshire has many ghost stories involving strange dogs. Fascinated by this theory I began researching these stories and compiling a long list of the locations and legends attached to them. These creatures are said to be shapeshifters, and are often associated with the Devil, often being described as “hell hounds.” They are most often reported in rural areas, and are common around crossroads, places of execution, and old ancient pathways such as ley lines and cursus. It is unclear when the stories began with influences coming from various cultures in European mythology, Celtic mythology, and Germanic mythology. In Greek Mythology they had Cerburus, in Norse mythology they had Garmr, and in Welsh mythology they had Cwn Annwn. Many stories connect the black dogs to the underworld, claiming that they are guardians. Some stories go even further, with tales of the Barghest and Black Shuck being directly

A684 NORTHALLERTON TO LEEMING BAR The A684 that runs between Leeming Bar, in the west, and Northallerton, in the east, is said to be haunted. The road between the two is approximately 5.1 miles / 8.2 km and takes an average of 8 minutes to drive along, taking the driver over Scruton Stell, the River Swale, through Morton-on-Swale and past Ainderby Steeple, before it crosses over the River Wiske into Northallerton. It is said that the road is haunted by a mysterious black dog. A lady travelling between the two locations along the road saw the creature jump out in front of her vehicle, she slammed on, expecting to hit something, and the passenger watched on in horror, as the dog seemingly went through the bonnet. They noticed that the creature had no facial features but had large floppy ears and was “shadow like.” It was later said that when the car arrived at its destination, the occupants told a friend, a male, what they had seen, and he later committed suicide, leading them to believe it was a portent showing them that something was about to happen.

“That ruddy whippet ‘as took me cap down snicket!”

Haunted Magazine

BARGUEST

THE BLACK DOG OF BRIGHAM

Legends and superstitions regarding big black dogs and spectral hounds might sound like a Sherlock Holmes adventure, or an episode of The X Files, but sightings of such creatures go back centuries in Great Britain, with many sightings taking place in North Yorkshire.

Brigham is said to be haunted by a mysterious black dog. For many years Britain has been plagued by mysterious reports of large black phantom dogs that display supernatural abilities, from drawing thunder and lightning, to their glowing red eyes, and their ability to make their observers drop down dead. (If you did drop down dead after seeing such a dog, how would you pass on the story……) Brigham’s Brigham Lane End, where four roads meet, is known for a phantom Boggle known as Willie Sled’s dog. Willie Sled used to attend to visitors to Brigham, and as such the boggle is named after him. The creature has also been associated with the sand pit on the south western end of Brigham Lane which stood opposite the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel.

“Ah reckon nowt ter that.”

COTTINGHAM’S GHOSTLY DOG

On Saturday February 28th 1880, The Leeds Mercury reported on “The Padfoot tradition,” in which it talked about large black dogs that had been roaming around the region. It mentioned that sightings had taken place in Tadcaster, Wakefield, Brighouse, and Halifax, as well as York, which was known as “The Barguest of York.” On Saturday July 3rd 1880, The Leeds Mercury stated that in some areas of North Yorkshire the creature was called “The Caplethwaite.” There was also some discussion as to the origin of the creature, with some claiming that it was ghostly, spiritual, like a boggart, or nature spirit, while others argued that it was a flesh and blood creature. The subject arose again on Saturday May 20th 1882, when The Leeds Mercury looked at cases around the British Isles, and included reports on creatures from boggarts, to barguests. The Leeds Mercury would later take on the stories again on Saturday September 26th 1885, when it talked about sightings of the barguest in the region, this time round it stated that some people had seen it shapeshift into a donkey with chains on its feet. One such eyewitness, an unnamed collier, claimed to have seen the dog-donkey walking towards him with chains rattling and clanking at every step in the dead of night. He took the opportunity to ride the dog-donkey home! Once the creature and its hard-working rider arrived back at the cottage, the creature sank into the earth and vanished.

The Fair Maid is a well-known pub lic house and eatery in Cottingh am and stands on a very busy road with footfall from passing traffic and on a busy Hull to Cottingham bus route. The public house itself has a large imposing three storey faça de and dominates the corner of Baynard Avenue and Hallgate Jun ction.

Initially the property was Westfie ld House and owned by the Lam bert family. From here Lamberts Win e and Spirit Merchants was run. Among the family members was Rev. Canon Malet Lambert. In 193 5 the property was owned by Edgar Gro trian. For many years, the Barclay Club had operated from the prop erty, but in 1951 Mr. Brown purc hased the property and turned it into the Westfield Country Club. When it was first opened as the Westfie ld Country Club the first and seco nd floors were split into self-contain ed flats, with the ground floor containing a games room, with tabl e tennis, and a full size snooker table, there was a bar, and a dini ng room, offering a mixed grill, and had a membership of 500 members . It was here some years ago that an eyewitness reported seeing a large red setter that ran in front of the pub and around the corner, subsequently vanishing. The dog was seen again days late

r but once again vanished.

“‘E’s a reight bobby dazzler.”

According to The Yorkshire Herald, and The York Herald, dated Saturday December 24th 1892, there was a barguest in the Nidderdale region. The description of it states that it was a mysterious sort of dog with glowing eyes of fire and big teeth. It made a strange brushing sound as it walked.

“‘Owt’s better than nowt.” Haunted Magazine

GRASSINGTON BARGUEST According to an article that appeared in The Burnley Express, on Saturday April 2nd 1927, Grassington has a barguest, or in this case a Bar Ghost, that was seen sitting on top of a five barred gate, and described as being able to shape-shift but usually taking on the form of a dog. It was said that the creature had large round saucer shaped eyes, which emitted sparks of fire, and smoke and fire came from its nostrils. It was said that the creature took great delight in scaring travellers. On Friday July 16th 1954, The Barnoldswick & Earby Times reported that Ted Williams, and his friends John and Clifford had gone in search of the barguest at Grassington. According to the report they found a large five barred gate-cumguidepost, and written on it with white paint it stated, “This way to the ghouls.” They walked along a path, and up through past a river, but did not see anything spooky!

“And ahm ‘appy as a pig in muck.”

GRINDLESFORD Longshaw Moorland at Grindlesford, boasts a spectral black dog, described in some accounts as “padfoot,” other reports as “barguest,” and other reports as “black shuck.” The creature has been described as terrifying but when confronted with the creature eyewitnesses have screamed at the dog, causing it to retreat and run off.

IVELET BRIDGE Ivelet is a small hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales, which in turn is situated in North Yorkshire, it stands approximately 1 mile / 1.6 to the west of Gunnerside in Swaledale. The single span Ivelet Bridge over the River Swale dates from 1687 and was an important crossing point on the 16-mile Corpse Way from Muker to the Churchyard at Grinton, which was once the only consecrated burial ground in the dale. A headless dog is reputed to haunt the Ivelet Bridge. It silently runs up the bridge before jumping over the wall and diving into the River Swale below. This phantom is considered locally to be an ill omen and a portent of death.

“That’s proper champion, that, lad.”

KETTLENESS BLACK DOG A schoolmaster, who was visiting Kettleness with his two friends near Whitby encountered a ghostly dog on their journey. It was said that they were all overcome with great fear, and when looking out over the shoreline towards the sea, they saw the phantom hound. They claimed that it was so large that it could not me a mortal dog, and that it was silent in its movements, and appeared out of nowhere! As quickly as they had seen it, the creature vanished.

“Eeh, yer daft ha’peth.”

“I’m chuffed t’bits wi’ that.”

THE GHOST DOG OF HUBBERHOLME Hubberholme is a small village that stands in Upper Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire. The village pub, The George Inn, it is said was once the vicarage to the church, but historical maps show the vicarage to be further along Dubbs Lane. The land around Hubberholme, which is said to be haunted by a ghostly dog, described in some cases as being big and grey, and in other sightings described as looking like a whippet. The dog had been seen on the road at regular intervals on the road between Hubberholme and Cam Houses

“Ahm fair t’middlin’.” 8

KIRKBY OVERBLOW Kirkby Overblow is situated in Harrogate, between Wetherby and Harrogate, and stands to the west of Sicklinghall and to the east of Leeds Bradford International Airport. It is claimed that a starved dog, which was abandoned by its owner, haunted farmland in the area. The dog, which in some versions of the story was a black dog, and in other versions was a sheepdog, was left in the fields and starved to death. Eyewitnesses claim that the phantom dog can be seen walking the fields and lanes and trying to find its owner.

“There’s nowt s’queer as folk.” Haunted Magazine

TROLLERS GILL

SEAMUS THE DOG

Trollers Gill is a limestone gorge that stands in North Yorkshire. It stands approximately 4.7 miles / 7.5 km southeast of Grassington, and close to the village of Skreholme. The gorge is approximately 0.5 miles / 0.8 km in length and is also known locally as Trollerdale.

York Minster is said to be haunted by a spectral dog; whose barks can be heard during the evening. It is said that the dog belonged to a stonemason working on the Minster, and that the dog was named Seamus. It is claimed that Seamus and his master were not liked by the other stonemasons, so they bricked the dog up behind the wall, and the dog died in the darkness.

The origin of the name of the gorge is magical in itself, with some sources stating that the name came from trolls who lived in the area, although it is more likely that the gorge took its name from the word “Geir” which is Danish and means a “triangular piece of land that ends in a chasm.” It has been claimed for some years that the gorge is home to the mysterious and mythical dog known as the Barghest, or Padfoot, who, it is claimed, can turn people into stone with a single look!

“Eeh I’ll go t’foot of stairs!”

THE PHANTOM DOG AT SOUTHBURN Usually when we talk about ghostly dogs we mean large black beasts such as Padfoot and Guytrash, but in this case the phantom dog was nothing more than a family dog, a pet, a part of the family, who had met with an early end, and returned from the other side. A family had to have their dog put down after it had bitten a rat, but two years later the phantom dog returned, and Poppy, as she was called, looked so real the family thought that they could reach out and touch her.

“Where there’s muck, there’s brass.”

The story really became popular in February 1880, when The Leeds Mercury, featured several stories on the mysterious dog, with letters, theories, and even poetry that talked about the creature. On Saturday March 6th 1880, the story was further elaborated on when one writer in The Leeds Mercury claimed that Padfoot would arrive to foretell a death. On Monday September 10th 1888, The Hull Daily Mail covered the story of Troller’s Gill, erroneously named as Trowler’s Gill in the article. It stated that the area had a well-known legend about a man named Trowler (I assume they meant Troller), who had spent the night at the Gill, and while he was there he met, and was subsequently killed, by the Barguest, which was referred to as “The Spectral Hound of Craven.” The man was killed, and the Gill was renamed in his honour. The story would again be told in The Leeds Mercury, on Saturday December 10th 1892, in which it stated that one of the major bugbears in the district was the Barguest, known locally as “The Spectral Hound of Craven.” The short snippet states that it haunts the woodland and roads around Craven, especially at Troller’s Gill. It is claimed that the creature avoids the sun, and to meet it at midnight would mean certain death from fright. It is said that the creature resembled a dog, black, curly, gruesome, carrying a chain behind him which is said to rattle to warn off potential victims. It is claimed that a man, who was drunk, met the creature at Troller’s Gill and he was “fleyed out of his wits.”

Mike

Till t’next time,

Does your village, town, city or county have mysterious beasts, curious cats, deadly dogs, terrifying tortoises and such forth, please do let us know… Email animalmagic@hauntedmagazine.co.uk and tell us more.

Haunted Magazine

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E S U O H Y HELP! M D E T N U A H WAS STEVE HIGGINS AKA

LOOK BACK AT SE E IV CT PE OS TR RE A S KE TA D HIGGYPOP AN

10 Things We Learnt from Season 2 Of ‘Help! My House Is Haunted’

he second series of ‘Help! My House Is Haunted’ saw three paranormal experts travel the UK tackle 12 new cases at a new selection of haunted locations. They aim to help families living in haunted homes, using the the latest technology to try to capture never seen proof of the paranormal. The team consists of Chris Fleming - a world renowned psychic who can see and talk to spirits directly, Jayne Harris - a selfstyled “ghostorian”, and Barri Ghai - the show’s tech expert. After a successful first series run, the show returned to the Really channel in November 2019 for a new 12-part series that came to an end in January 2020. Along the way they introduced us to a few paranormal phenomenon and concepts, some never seen or not heard of before on paranormal TV shows and now the series has come to an end, we thought we’d take a look at the memorable moments, some might say highlights, but enough about Chris’s hair.

Haunted Magazine

ASON 2

1. Walk-Ins In the first episode of the series, the team head to Hertford to investigate reports of a haunting at the Corn Exchange, a popular music venue with a dark past. While the team were setting up their kit, Chris became unstable and fell backwards. He then started wheezing and speaking in a strange voice while writhing on the floor. Luckily, this didn’t last long and a few moments later Chris snapped back to reality and came around from this unexpected experience, but he needed to take a break from the investigation and stepped outside. Barri told us that Chris had become the victim of a ‘walk-in’. It’s sometimes referred to as a temporary spirit walk-in or step-in. This normally happens when the investigator gives any spirits present permission to use their energy and enter into their body.

The spirit will normally use this opportunity to share their emotions or feelings with the investigator so that they can experience what the spirit went through in their final moments before death. While in this state, investigators have reported feeling totally different, sometimes not recognising the people around them who should be familiar to them. After the incident they may have missing memories and feel very weak and drained as walk-ins can be quite a shock to the body. After the event, Chris said “it was our first case and episode for season two. I was on no sleep for over two days having just arrived from the States. I had jet leg and having difficulty with the time change. I was in a weakened numb state. Somewhat tired mentally and physically. This left me open to attack.”

London is haunted by the ghost of a bear. Across England apparitions of ghostly figures riding horses are quite common.

3. DVPs Episode three took the team to the Essex countryside, where they tried to get to the bottom of a haunting at Little Easton Manor. At one point in the investigation, Jayne put some marbles down on the floor. Barri called out, “if you can move one of those marbles for us, we would be forever grateful.” Chris heard a direct response that said, “I can’t”. In the paranormal field, this is known as a DVP or Direct Voice Phenomenon. These are disembodied voices that are heard during paranormal

Chris said he had a pretty good idea what this presence was, he called out “are there any imps in this building?” This time when he reviewed the recording, a voice seemed to be saying “imps”. This wasn’t the only time in the series that the team think they encountered imps. These non-human entities are usually described as being mischievous, but less powerful than other supernatural entities such as human spirits or demons. Perhaps the most famous story of imps in the UK comes from the city of Lincoln. The tale, which dates to the 14th century, tells of the Devil himself visiting the town upon the completion of the cathedral. He’s said to have brought two imps with him who wreaked havoc in the building.

5. Pixies Barri, Chris and Jayne tackled an interesting case in Morchard Bishop, Devon. The owners of the Old Cottage said they were being tormented by strange goings on in their home. As the team got deeper into the investigation, it transpired that they might be dealing with an ancient form of elemental spirit, pixies.

2. Animal Spirits The team’s next stop was Stable Cottage in Buntingford, where one of the spooks they encountered was the spirit of a dog. Chris first picked up on a canine energy during his initial walk around the property. Holding a digital audio recorder in one hand, Chris came out with one of the best lines of the series, “is there a dog spirit in this house? If there is, please bark or growl, so I know you’re here.” Later with the residents of the house, Chris captured what sounded like a dog’s bark on a recording, the residents recognised it instantly as their former pet. Reports of ghosts of animals aren’t as rare as you might think, especially when it comes to pets. Tales of animal spirits include horses seen galloping across battlefields, Carew Castle in Wales is said to be haunted by the laughing ghost of a murdered pet monkey, and even the Tower of

investigations, séances or at a haunted location, which are spoken directly to the investigator or witness. A DVP is heard without the use of any audio or electrical equipment, they are heard live, in real time with nothing more than the human ear. Direct voice phenomenon is very rare, almost as rare as full-bodied apparitions, but it’s not uncommon for people to report hearing laughing, cries or even menacing voices shouting “get out” while at an allegedly haunted property.

4. Imps Later in the series the team spent the night at Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a quaint rural pub in Somerset. The team started their investigation in the pub’s cellar. Chris was using his audio recorder and called out “who are what is down here?” When he played the recording back a very clear voice said, “get out of here”.

Haunted Magazine

Later in the episode, Barri was using an SLS camera, a device that can map and record anomalies that appear outside of the visible spectrum. If it detects an anomaly it displays it on screen in the form of a stickman - and one such figure appeared, it looked smaller than a human. The team thought this could have been a pixie. Then Chris caught

universe or have found a way to cross over from a parallel universe. Wherever it is they come from, demonologists tend to call it the “Infernal Realm”.

7. Hydromancy Towards the end of the series, Barri, Chris and Jayne investigate a modest house in Norfolk dubbed the “Tivetshall Murder House”. At one point in the investigation Jayne goes alone into the shed, the part of the house the residents fear the most. She decided to try an experiment using a fog machine, the type you’d see a mobile DJ use. Jayne said that the experiment is based around the art of hydromancy, which was originally a type of divination that allowed shapes to be seen in water.

a glimpse of a pixie with his own eyes in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

“the building blocks of nature - earth, water, air and fire”.

The team conclude that the pixies in the house have been angered after the residents cut a tree in the garden down. Barri said, “to me this seems pretty conclusive, planting new trees will placate the elementals and restore nature’s balance.

Pixies are a big part of Devon’s folklore. In one town in East Devon, locals celebrate Pixie Day every summer. The day commemorates the legend of pixies being banished from the town to local caves known as the “Pixie’s Parlour”.

Pixies are a mythical creature found in folklore, but some paranormal investigators think their myth is based on one specific type of elemental spirit. Barri told us in the episode that elementals are part of folklore and ancient believe systems, he said they are

6. Demons We’ve covered the little guys, imps and pixies, but in episode eight we met the big boys - demons. The team encountered one demon in particular at a haunted house in Nuneaton. The team started to suspect they could be dealing with a demon in the normal, two-bedroom, semi-detached house when they found a cross that had been on the wall had fallen from its hanging, landing at the bottom of the stairs. Chris said, “demonic entities will do that as a form of intimidation”. Later the words “demon” and “zepar” are captured as an EVP in an audio recording. They discovered this was in reference to a demon called Zepar. According to Barri, “Zepar is not an easy demon to work with for the inexperienced. He has been known to cause some issues for occultists.” Many different traditions and cultures have varying beliefs of what a demon fundamentally is, but the best way to describe a demon is simply as a non-human malevolent entity. Some traditions go as far as to say that demons may not even be from our plain of existence, instead believing them to be entities that have survived from a former

Haunted Magazine

In this case Jayne used water vapour and hoped that any spirits at the property might be able to use the smoke to communicate and allow her to capture them with her camera. Jayne showed the photos to the residents at the end of the episode, one of which looked like there was a figure made of smoke.

8. EVPs The Help! My House Is Haunted team often rely heavily on EVPs in their investigations, but in their case ‘The Gedling House Of Cricket’ they captured some of the best examples in the series. EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomenon, is the method of spirit communication that involves capturing the sound of spirit voices in audio recordings, usually using a digital audio recorder. During the investigation they used a spirit box, a device that rapidly scans through FM and AM radio frequencies producing bursts of white noise and random flashes of radio transmissions. The theory behind this is that spirits can create real-time EVPs by manipulating these sounds.

At one-point Jayne asked, “where did you kill yourself?” A voice through the device said “upstairs... in... kids... bed... room”. Later Barri asked “who found your body?” The reply seemed to say “Gertrude,” which ties in with the house’s history. These were some of the clearest captures of spirit voices in the whole series.

9. Portals In the penultimate investigation of the series, the team help a young couple who feel they are being haunted in their home in Nottingham. The team’s psychic medium, Chris, always insists on being kept in the dark about the location, but while the team were travelling to the property, he became aware of the word “gateway” and the phrase “I unlocked the gate”. Chris had a hunch that this could relate to the practice of communicating with sprits, which some say could open a portal. In the paranormal world a portal is believed to be a gateway to another plane of existence. It links the physical world we live into the plane of existence that ghosts and demons inhabit - the spirit world. Later in the episode it seemed that Chris’ hunch might be correct when it was revealed that the residents are amateur ghost hunters themselves and have tried various methods to communicate with spirits in the house. This theory was strengthened when the team captured an EVP that said “a gate” in the living room. Upstairs Barri spotted something odd while using his SLS camera. There appeared to be a figure stood right in front of him on the stairs to the attic, as if blocking his path. Seconds later the twitching figure on the screen seemed to warp and roll up into an abstract ball and then vanish. Chris excitedly shouted “dude, it went through a portal!” Barri said, “this is amazing evidence and seems to confirm we’re dealing with portals or gateways.”

10. The Roeites In the final episode of the series, the team investigate reports of paranormal activity in a rural pub in Nottinghamshire, but they soon realise that the strange phenomena aren’t limited to the pub and extend their investigation to the whole village of Calverton.

HELP! MY REVIEW WAS ACCURATE?

As well as the tales of witchcraft in Foxwood, one of the most interesting things about the village is a religious society that formed in the village and practiced there in secret for many years. The team believe its founder, John Roe, could be one of the spirits haunting the area.

This series the production quality has levelled-up with an exciting new opening sequence, featuring dramatic narration by Ian Shaw. The opening segment and the introduction to the location is slick and snappy, making it an engaging start to each episode that is similar in style to Unexplained: Caught On Camera - a show that aired on Really last year and is produce by the same production team.

Roe founded his society, The Roeites, in 1780 as an offshoot of the Quakers movement. The group had strict beliefs on arranged marriages within the sect and buried its members in the grounds of their chapel in non-consecrated ground. After his death in 1823 at the age of 91, the Roites slowly disbanded. Today there is little sign of the secret society left. Roe’s chapel no longer exists and the headstones of his followers’ graves are now buried beneath a row of modern houses. Jayne thinks this could explain some of the paranormal activity in the village.

Jayne fitted into the show like she should have always been there, and the three of them worked really well together, each bring very own area of expertise within their more defined roles. Chris mainly focussed on the energy of the building, Barri investigating the paranormal claims, and Jayne investigated the building’s history.

As the series came to an end and the case files were closed on 12 more haunted locations, the team hopes that the residence will no longer be pestered by things that go bump in the night. As for those watching at home, the show generally received positive reviews and there’s already cries for Help! My House Is Haunted to return for a third series.

Higgypop Haunted Magazine

“SUMMER GHOSTIN’ HAD ME A BLAST… TELL ME MORE, TELL ME MORE, TELL ME MORE…”

HUBERT HOBUX & THE MID-SUMMER MACABRE AT

BOSWORTH HALL I

have stayed at Bosworth Hall Hotel several times... It’s a good place to make base if you are exploring the haunted countryside around the old battle ground of Bosworth (site of Richard the Third’s disastrous day out!)

The main house, built in the 1680s, home of the Dixie family for nigh on 200 years & also adding 50 years as a hospital onto its impressive “what this building was in the past” list. It has always thrown up an air of haunted mystery, the classic ghost of Bosworth Hall being Anna Dixie, daughter of the “pugnacious bully” Sir Wolston Dixie, who in 1758 set man traps in the grounds with the intention of hoping to catch Anna’s lover, a lowly estate gardener, in the act of approaching the Hall.

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Anna, thwarted in her romantic ambitions, set off into the park land, hell bent on having a tryst with her humble lover in his shed unfortunately stepped on one of the man traps, and (depending on which version you are told (as there are a few variations) was taken back to the Hall and bled to death in her bedroom. Since that fateful night Anna has forever walked the grounds and the Hall, {with a bit of a limp presumably?}, as a Grey Lady spectre, and the stain from her

exuded blood which seeped from the upstairs floorboards down through the ground floor ceiling from her gory finale has consumed gallons of magnolia paint in frustrated attempts to cover it up, apparently. The whole place seems full of wandering spirits aside from just Anna though, three times now I’ve enjoyed eventful ghost hunts with the HauntedLIVE team who run events there, and on each occasion there have been very similar encounters with a

bemoaning spirit obsessed with the fact he was ‘separated’ from his fortune cropping up twice, and very strange things often scuttle about under the table in one of the conference rooms, also sensed by others on events that I haven’t been at. However a very intense paranormal scenario was played out during our vigil in a certain suite with a reputation for the furnishings being passionately moved, “The Bridal Suite”, notorious for the wardrobe doors being enigmatically opened during nights of newlywed nuptials, activity not of the paranormal kind, if you get my meaning. We were confronted with disembodied footsteps and invisibly turning door handles to the adjoining en-suite. I, for one, was blown away! 200/300 year old history is sometimes as its best, sketchy, even though some of it is documented, stories get added to it, legends, names spelt wrong, locations misspelt, what is good though is locals who know their local history, stuff that might not be sat on a “ghost” website and luckily on the mid-Summer Night we had lovely local Bosworth couple in our party, and they were very au fait with the history of their region! From my experience of getting local people in on investigations you seem to entice the spirits out in a manner of kinship somehow, something to do with the same connection that archaeologists make with radioactive teeth signature residue I think (not got a clue where you picked that toothy fact up from, but I am keeping it in – editor). The knowledge that this lady and gentleman brought to the investigation was about to prove invaluable and it did feel like the spirits / ghosts / spooks were more than happy to have the locals there.

or it was not long after that incredible encounter with door rattling energy that we made contact with a spirit, who communicated via various K2 meters and set of dowsing rods and a medium who was picking up on a gentleman who “needed his story to be told”. Our local historian connected with him famously with a familiarity that only a long lost friend can have, every time he asked questions it appeared that he got genuine bona fide responses, he identified him as a fellow who had met a particularly

ghastly end in the “bone yard” over the way from the Hall. I am tempted to spill the beans on the tale of how the poor old chap came to his grisly end, but then that might spoil the ground for future involvement with the chap, needless to say it’s not on the net on common ghost story websites, I did dig a little deeper and found something about it but only in the minutes of a local history meeting, but this is genuinely not common knowledge. I am certain that he may still linger on events at Bosworth Hall if only for further validation. After a lovely refreshed sleep in the insanely haunted Savage Wing of Bosworth Hall Hotel, I rose, breakfasted, then visited the church yard to visit the fellows grave as I promised I would the night before. Admittedly, I couldn’t find any definite trace of his grave, but following his spirit lead, as he manipulated my dowsing rods, I think I may have found his unmarked resting place OR even his original ‘unrested’ place..? However, I will leave that for others to discover, there is more to this story I am sure. Do go on a HauntedLIVE investigation at Bosworth Hall if you get the chance, it’s a good Hotel, with lots of the original rooms not “travel-lodged” for modern times, paintings and sculptures galore, rich layers of history, a welcoming buffet, fit for any ghost hunter in need of sustenance and the “sugar rush” flapjacks, donuts and cookies towards the end of a weird and freaky investigation and a great bunch of Paranormal lads, who like to mingle, like a laugh, aren’t afraid to take a back seat, this is “your night” they say and make you so, so welcome aka HauntedLIVE*.... Who could ask for anything more?

Hubert Hobux

*Hubert Hobux was not paid for his highly positive recommendation of a HauntedLIVE investigation, he did however pocket a few flapjacks and a glazed donut that he took to his room

Haunted Magazine

Ur·ban ex·plor·er Noun. A person who explores man-made structures as a pastime, especially in areas not generally open to the public.

B WHO IS

DAKOTA LADEN

efore our parents moved into the house that I grew up in, they were warned by our neighbours that people had previously practiced satanic rituals and animal sacrifices on the land. Paranormal activity was part of our life in the house. I was about nine years old. My mother saw an apparition, and she was really upset. The woods are very creepy, and I do feel the spirit was elemental. I went out there one night with my buddy Alex who is also a member of the show and we were asking questions and I heard a woman screaming in pain right in front of us. We went back into the woods and it happened again. That was one of the creepiest events that happened, it didn’t sound like any animals or trees it sounded just like a human. We had many events that happened over many years. I feel the property was haunted, not the house. So since then, I’ve been very interested in the paranormal. I have always been an urban explorer, and I always loved the show Ghost Adventures. For several years we cranked out videos for our YouTube channel. We began to get a cult following on our channel when we started to spoof the Ghost Adventures crew. My friends and I would act like Aaron, Nick and Zak. Pretty soon our YouTube videos captured their attention. Zak and his team started tweeting about us. At one point there was a Ghost Adventures contest where you had to edit real video clips together with music. I had a ton of previous editing experience, so I thought this would be an amazing opportunity to get involved. I ended up winning the contest and I was on the show. At sixteen! The experience working with the Ghost Adventures crew was incredible. I continued with YouTube for a while, then I graduated high school. I was hired as a production assistant on sets for Lions Gate Films. I made a documentary called Trail to Terror. The Idea for the Trail to Terror documentary was pitched as a show idea to several TV stations. Zak called me right after my 21st birthday and offered me a gig to help shoot as a cameraman and do B roll for Ghost Adventures.

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After a year of camera experience on Ghost Adventures, Zak put me in front of the camera. The Travel Channel made a call to Zak letting him know they wanted to make a TV show out of the premise for my documentary. The name was changed to “Destination Fear”. My goal with Destination Fear is that I wanted to offer a unique show experience unlike other paranormal shows. I am more of a paranormal explorer than investigator and I wanted to make Destination Fear more relatable to the viewing audience by bringing people on a road trip who have had no paranormal experience. Everyone sleeps alone at the locations; part of the show is us in seclusion four to five hours a night. If you follow all the episodes you can see over time how our behaviours change. After the trip we were really jumpy, I experienced many nightmares. I still have the same recurring nightmare where I’m in my sleeping bag in an insane asylum or penitentiary. I’m also editing the episodes and I can see myself change, I became darker by the end of the series. I consider myself to be very much “in the light”. The second I feel darkness overpowering me, I get rid of it fast.

Haunted Magazine

“The idea behind the show is one continuous road trip. I am the only one that knows where we are going.”

WHAT IS

DESTINATION FEAR

In Travel Channel’s “Destination Fear,” documentary filmmaker Dakota Laden, his sister, Chelsea, and his best friend, Tanner Wiseman, travel across the country in an RV to spend nights in haunted locations. From asylums to prisons, they explore abandoned buildings using scientific equipment to capture evidence of paranormal activity. At each site, the luck of the draw determines where each one of them will sleep -- alone and separate from each other -- armed with cameras and dread as their only companions. Episodes include a visit to Brushy State Penitentiary, which is rumoured to be rife with paranormal activity. At Old South Pittsburgh Hospital, Dakota prepares sister Chelsea to confront a spectre that attacks only women. In West Virginia, the team visits Sweet Springs Sanatorium, the site of a massacre of Native Americans, where they hear screams, voices and chants. They also revisit St. Albans Sanatorium, even though Chelsea has vowed she would never return to this awful place. In Destination Fear, we walk sometimes two to three hours just urban exploring and activity would start on its own. Being present and not asking questions sometimes makes what’s inside the location want to reach out to you. Some locations didn’t turn on until the ninth hour and we were there for about twelve hours. I still get freaked out by being in the dark and even scream sometimes in the show. When we were at Pennhurst Insane Asylum, I cried and was so affected by the lives of the people who lived through the trauma and abuse. It’s unlike anything

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I have felt before. After visiting Pennhurst, it made me want to tell more stories like it to the public, I feel like when I was in school, they didn’t tell us the truth about what happened in our institutions. For the future, I’d like to take Destination Fear to Europe and see other countries like haunted locations in Australia. I’m so interested in history and addicted to it.

“Filming Destination Fear we became so vulnerable, tired, drained and our guard so down we were susceptible to spirit attachments. For me, filming Destination Fear was like a scary movie. The whole time you hate it, but after it’s finished you want to do it again.” Dakota Laden is the star of the new TV series Destination Fear. In the series premiere at the end of October 2019, Dakota surprises Chelsea and Tanner with the news that they are headed to Brushy State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee, known as the “Alcatraz of the South.” Bearing witness to more than 10,000 deaths and housing James Earl Ray, assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., as one of its former inmates, Brushy is rife with paranormal activity. But when Chelsea has a shocking confrontation with an entity inside Ray’s cell, and Tanner is threatened by something unknown, Dakota’s “fear” experiment takes a terrifying turn.

Written by

Dakota Laden & Vicky C. S. Laursen

DEVON KNOWS HOW THEY MAKE IT SO SCREAMY…

WISTMAN’S WOOD THE MOST HAUNTED PLACE ON DARTMOOR?

B Y K AT I E WA L L E R A N D G E O R G E B I R D “Scarce hoarier seems the ancient Wood Whose shivered trunks of age declare What scath of tempests they have stood In the rock’s crevice rooted there; Yet still young foliage, fresh and fair, Springs forth each mossy bough to dress, And bid e’en Dartmoor’s valleys share A Forest-wilderness“ Sophie Dixon -1829 20

n the heart of Dartmoor, England, lies a very ancient and mysterious woodland shrouded by legend and its name is Wistman’s Wood (‘Wist’ meaning wise.)

I arrived. On my approach I had already discovered some animal bones. Either a warning or a coincidence, I wasn’t sure. I could barely see the valley as the thick fog blanketed it from view.

There is simply no other wood like this one, except in fairy tales. Remote, it clings to huge granite boulders on the eastern side of a mystical valley at 1,334ft. Below the West Dart River runs energetically where herons can be seen catching fish. Above, towers a rocky outcrop named Littaford Tor. Uniquely beautiful, the scene is something incredible. Hundreds of stunted dwarf oak trees, no more than 18 ft in hight, each one dead but covered in moss and lichen of more than 100 species. The shades of green were a spectacular view with a variety so wide even the keenest of eyes, would be unaware so many existed. Some trees wore a carpet of moss so thick my hands disappeared completely when leaning on them to ramble over the large boulders which the trees grew around. Looking upwards some trees where adorned dreadlocks of the stuff (bearded lichen) hanging down as if dressed up for the occasion. The atmosphere here is queer, the magic almost tangible, and on a misty January morning, my hair soaked, dripping from the fog and mist during my dawn 2-mile ramble through the moors,

Confident my feet were taking me the right way I noticed a lone Raven perched on top of a very old but very small oak tree. I continued until I reached the edge of the wood. The path changed, becoming increasingly difficult to walk on, huge boulders replaced that of the moorland underfoot. Climbing and scrambling I moved further into the trees. Erie and foreboding and I was becoming breathless from the damp within my lungs and I began to feel exhausted. Before I planned my visit here, I’d known about this place. I had researched it and heard tales of myths and legends from the locals. There is, I would say, one reason for most people visiting here and that is the ‘Druid Stones.’ In one particular spot in the wood sits two boulders facing each other at a rough 35-degree angle, just a few meters apart which focuses down through the wood and further on to the river in the valley. On the larger of the two a symbol grows or has been etched and appears to be a large eye or labyrinth in the moss and lichen. The other a rather perfect spiral. The story goes that no one really knows why they are here, or who created them,

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but this is why I wanted to visit. Some people believe the woodland was planted by the Druids as their name also means ‘wise man.’ There are many legends, but it seems that no one really knows why they are here or who created them, but that is exactly why I wanted to visit. They are stories of the Devil, witches, ghostly hauntings and mythical creatures of which feature within the special location. Druids sacrificed here during their pagan rituals and from the Bullerstone a large triangular shaped boulder situated above to the east of the wood higher than the trees it is said the Wisht Hounds or Hell Hounds are released by the devil himself or Old Crockern an ancient spirit of the moor that haunts this area. The hounds with their yellow snarling teeth and deep red eyes go out every night after dark looking for the blood, flesh and souls of lost and lone travellers. Howling can be heard, and it is often reported in this area. The ghost of a terrier dog has also been seen in his search for rabbits between the stones and boulders as he died years previous from an adder bite. The wood is rife with these serpents. Adders reside here in vast numbers so visitors also need

to watch their footing as well as their backs in these woods. A nearby pathway known a Lych Way or ‘Way of the Dead’ is also a home to apparitions from when the route was used to transport corpses to Lydford for burial.

T H E I N V E S T I G AT I O N : As usual I brought along my standard investigation kit, or at least what I could carry. My Nicky (Nikon,) K2, Digital Recorder, SB7 Spirit Box, Full Spectrum Camera, Video Camera and a Black Light. As far as photography goes, no luck. Unfortunately, the black light didn’t show up much either however it was the K2 and EVP that made this investigation one of my favourites to date. I initially had nothing on the K2 but after calling out at the spiral boulder for a long while all of a sudden, an amber spike, then up to a red which lasted for a few seconds. With that, both of my legs below the knee heated up, and quickly. Then, as fast as it arrived it left with none of my questions answered. Aside from that little bit of excitement I got nothing else on the K2 anywhere else including the eye boulder. It wasn’t just the K2 that was successful, here is promising evidence caught on the Digital recorder…

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“I heard there were many snakes in this woodland, why?” – A disembodied voice simply replied “Shhhhhhhhhhh.” I also captured the sound of dogs howling twice throughout the session. Upon investigating the area, I found no one walking any dogs and considering the time of morning, any dog walkers were very unlikely.

What River runs at the bottom of the valley? “Meet” (Dartmeet is the name of the place where to rivers east/west dart meet)

THE DRUID SYMBOLS

What follows now is the dialogue from the spirit box session at each boulder;

EYE/LABYRINTH BOULDER

SPIRAL BOULDER Is there anybody here with me now? “a demon” OR “Druid” Do you just say Demon? “He there” What’s your name? “Crockern” Can you tell me the name of this woodland? Does Somebody… “Nothing” OR “Lydford” Look after this woodland? “I do” Are there Druids here? Witchcraft? “I know” “Pendle” Did rituals take place here? “I know” Why are my legs warm? “Ghost” Ghost, are there ghosts here? What does this symbol mean (touching spiral) is it fake? Is it a hoax? “NO!” … “Katie” What does this mean? (gesturing towards spiral) “Mean” … “Tax” OR “Take” What land am I on? “Wistman” … “Wood”

seems to be links to my research. The many odd connections from my evidence, the legends and factual information on the area suggests that this is a sacred historical site. I also urge anybody who visits to please preserve it, do not damage anything and most importantly, watch your step and look out for those adders.

Hello?...... “Who’s that” Can someone tell me what this symbol means? Why is it here? “magic” …… “Littaford” (Name of Tor above the woodland) What’s the name of this woodland? It looks like the shape of an eye, is it watching? Multiple indiscernible voices Hello? Is this woodland Haunted? “It is” Who haunts the woodland? “a woman” A woman? Are there fairies or pixies here? Are there creatures here? “Druid” Are there Demons here? Do you have a message? Hello? “Lady OR it’s me” Who are you? Do you watch over the wood? Who’s the guardian of the woodland? Are there witches here? “I am” Were sacrifices made here? “Katie” I would encourage any investigator to spend some time in this quirky location, an out-of-the-movies type of place. I get the feeling that there could be some interesting discoveries to be made here and already there

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The boulders themselves are Granite, which is believed to affect the Earth’s energy, in particular focusing on healing areas with disturbed energy, neutralizing toxic areas. The Druid symbols on the boulders, one of which being like an eye could be “the Third Eye” known to be a gateway to the inner realms is in fact a connection between granite and the Third eye Chakra. Labyrinth -symbol to trap and confuse evil spirits or symbolizes a difficult journey. The eye- capable of assessing the soul at a glance and if necessary, inflicting a curse. The Spiral- The sacred spiral symbolizes energy, even under microscope pure energy appears in small spiral shaped patterns. The Raven- the power to move between worlds. Adder- The adder, a symbol of wisdom. They have a connection with Druids as they kept them, making divinations and some decisions depending on their movements. They are also said to be a bad omen to anyone who sees one.

Katie x

‘A Haunted Atlas of Western New York’ is one of those rare gems that is actually two items in one. Blending seamlessly as one-part spooky history lesson and onepart travel guide, this piece of non-fiction fits at home nicely on any bookshelf whether you are from the area or not!”

Adam Benedict Author, Monsters in Print

“Anyone wanting to visit Haunted locations in New York, this is just perfect, when, where and how in one easy to read and use guidebook, ideal for anyone, even an Englishman in New York, aliens or legal aliens”

Paul Stevenson Editor, Haunted Magazine

Nicky Alan’s

NEVER JUDGE A SPOOK BY ITS F**KING COVER! “Nicky Alan writes for Haunted Magazine, well she swears blind she does…” Paul Stevenson, Editor, Haunted Magazine

know that this is going to sound a bit off, a bit weird, a bit selfish, but as I drove to Hornchurch in Essex to a reported spirit in a house, I was desperately hoping for a real goody. By a real goody I mean there was actually going to be a spirit there and there was going to be some phenomena that would test me. Most house spirits are family members popping down to see if everything is ok but inadvertently scaring the pants out of there unassuming relatives. So, when I was told there were cold spots, feelings of oppression, being touched and pinned down by an unseen force I couldn’t help but feel a little excited. The kids didn’t want to sleep in their room; this seemed to be where the main problem was happening. As always, I wanted to know nothing else. I never research an address or its occupants. I want to go in fresh and see what I can discover as I walk in.

The house, on arrival was nothing out of the ordinary. It was a terrace house sitting on an estate at the edge of the town. It was autumn at the time. The sun was trying to warm my cockles as the orange and brown hued leaves whipped up around my feet. As I walked towards the front door, my attention was drawn to the upstairs windows and there on the left top window I sensed my problem, this spirit had the arse ache, I could feel him staring down at me as if to say, ‘f**k off now, this is none of your business.’ Boy was I right. I stepped into the house and spoke with the mum. She was quite nervous and understandably troubled. I allowed her to make a cup of tea and let her chat away as I always do. This allows me to scan the house with my head to find where the culprit is. I could feel him so strongly it was tangible. He was not a happy bunny. I felt a bolt of excitement tinged with a little apprehension; he did not want me here.

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After the tea and chat, it took me everything I had not to race up the stairs and start having it out with this spirit man. Instead I casually walked up the stairs and sauntered to what I knew was the problem room. The mum expressed her surprise, (We shall call her Jan*) that I located the room straight away. There were two children’s rooms along with the master bedroom. As I walked into the room I could feel and see a vortex over the top bunk of the kid’s bunk bed. It feels like a door has been left open on a chilly day. You can imagine your hair blowing in the chilled breeze but of course it isn’t. I could see the sparkling rain like orbs clearly showing a wide rod of energy where this man was manifesting through. “F**k off” said this very friendly spirit. I smiled through the abundant spirit welcome and asked if Jan could go and sit downstairs to give me time to sense the spirit. Sense it? I wanted to punch its lights out! Jan happily walked down the stairs as I gripped my fingers into a ball ready for a fight. I sat down on the lower bunk and said, “Right mate we have a problem here, I’m not going anywhere soon, so best you tell

the house. As I stood there Julianus then showed me a rope swinging from the loft hatch. I knew though that this wasn’t the house where a hanging had taken place as the walls had turned a different colour in my vision. “So, this man hanged himself?” I got a whoosh of energy run through my body, which always meant I was right. “But not here though?” Whoosh again. This is where I really didn’t like what I saw next. I was abused by my mum’s husband for many years and his face came into my mind as clear as day. I am changing the name as I don’t want to lend any energy to this monster. Let us say his name is John Barker. Now, unfortunately John wasn’t dead, so I knew it wasn’t him telling me to f**k off. So, I called down to Jan. “Jan, do you know anyone called ‘John Barker’?” She walked to the bottom of the stairs and looked up to me. “Oh my God, how do you know that name?” me what the f**k you are doing here!” Not the most professional or spiritual introduction, but he has already used the F word, so I figure, meet him head to head.

“F**k off, you have no business here.” This was all I could hear and see, written in words in my mind’s eye. We were getting nowhere fast as he just repeated the same words repeatedly. After ten minutes of this scintillating conversation, I decided to go up and get one of my guides Julianus. I needed a little assistance on how to move forward as I didn’t have a clue. I concentrated in my mind on the frequency I know my guides reside in and there was Julianus. His hood was up (he is a monk) so that showed he meant business. He made me feel like I had to stand up; he then took me to landing of

“It’s just been shown to me Hun.” I reply. “That was my brother in law. He hung himself nine months ago,” she stated, going paler by the minute. Bingo! I had worked out who this man was. Jan went on to explain that he had killed himself because his wife was having an affair and had left him. He sank into a massive depression started drinking and in a desperate bid to end the emotional agony he hung himself on the landing of their house. He was the kid’s favourite uncle and it had left them all devastated as he was only in his forties. I asked Jan to come upstairs with me and sit on the bed. This was a family thing and I needed her there for him to see and feel his sister in law supporting my presence there. I took on a more sympathetic tone as I addressed him next. I spoke of his life and the agony he must be in and that he needed to lose the guilt and pain that he had caused his family. The room had been freezing but was now starting to warm a little.

Haunted Magazine

“A different John then started to blend with me. It was an energy of pure misery, regret, anger and pain. He felt immense guilt that he had left his nieces and nephews behind.” He had not gone over and felt he needed to protect and look out for his ‘kids’ as he called them because he had let them down by killing himself. What he didn’t realise was that because he was still manifesting in a torrent of anger, pain and torment that was the energy he was creating in this house. It took about an hour to get this through to him, along with Julianus helping him. He had no clue what fear he was creating, he honestly thought he was being a strong and safe presence for his beloved family. I along with Julianus eventually convinced him to go over to the spirit world, join Archangel Jeremiel (The Archangel that does your life review) in order to get healed so that he could come in visitation in a clean, pure and serene energy as that would serve his family better. The room warmed up, the vortex disappeared, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. It was exceptionally emotional for Jan but even she could feel the lightness permeate the room on his departure. I ‘saged’ the room, in fact I did the whole house. I asked Jan not to mention John for a while, just until he sorted himself out. I called Jan a few months later. She was happy to report that there had been no further issues. She had created a collage photo display of John with the kids that stood pride of place in the lounge. As I always say, never judge a spirit by their initial energy, they always have a story to tell…

Nicky x

www.nickyalan.co.uk

Psychic Medium, Magazine Columnist & Author Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn – Nicky Alan Author of ‘M.E Myself and I’ ‘Diary of a Psychic’ 25

WHERE DO WE GO

FROM HERE?

NEW WRITER ALERT!

INTRODUCING THE WIZARDRESS OF OZ: Sarah Chumacero

f you want to know the future, there is no time like the present to look to the past … Albert Einstein once said, “If you want to know the future, look at the past”, something I find quite relevant when it comes to investigating the paranormal. We often ask the question as paranormal investigators “where do we go from here?”. We always seem to leave an investigation with more questions than answers and yet we are no closer to finding the answers we seek than we were over 100 years ago. Perhaps in order to move forward, we need to look to the past. There is a strong movement within the paranormal field at the moment almost standing up against a lot of the technical devices used during an investigation.

Sarah Chumacero is an Australian paranormal researcher, creator of Living Life In Full Spectrum Paranormal Blog, author of Stuff Paranormal Investigators Need To Know and volunteer paranormal investigation guide for Black Rock House Paranormal tours. https://llifs.com.au

Gone are the days where people can’t leave the house without a K2 meter in tow and instead, they are using the one valuable tool they have that doesn’t cost any money …. themselves. In the ‘spirit’ of this, I recently along with my brother held a series of ‘Old School’ inspired investigation nights for the general public. The only condition of the evening was that no electronic equipment could be used whatsoever. The location of these events was at my

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regular haunt, Black Rock House. Nestled in the south east suburbs of Melbourne Australia, it was built in 1856 for Victoria’s first Auditor General Mr Charles Ebden as his holiday seaside residence. Used to entertain Melbourne’s elite, it eventually went onto become a boarding house and self-contained flats. After going through various owners over the years and eventually becoming derelict, it was purchased by the local council in the 1970s and with the help of volunteers, slowly returned to its former glory. It was remodelled on what an 1800s homestead would have looked like unique touches like the wallpaper reprinted to match the original traces which was found under years of neglect in the walls. With its beautiful furnishings, large castle gate with battlements and rumoured underground tunnels among the many mysteries that surround the property, this is the perfect location for such a night. We asked our guests to dress up in Victorian Era inspired dress and they could incorporate a steampunk twist if they saw fit. While it was intended to add an element of fun, it also held a much greater purpose. Would dressing up in clothing from the past resonate with a spirit and encourage them to interact with us? It is one of the most basic methods people use when investigating the paranormal. Mostly known as the ‘Singapore theory’ it is a

method of recreating some sort of act or replicating an environment which may be familiar to the spirit and therefore induce some sort of response. It is one of my favourite techniques to use as a paranormal investigator, as in a lot of ways it makes sense to me. If people believe that a spirit is the ‘ghost’ of a person who was once living, what better way to get their attention than to offer them a drink of their favourite whisky or to dress in the same way they did when they were alive. On top of this method we also set out to show people that Ouija boards would not in fact summon a demon and that by scrying into a mirror we were not going to open a portal to hell. While times have changed, in the early 1900s these methods were extremely popular. Instead of heading out on a Saturday night for an investigation like we do now, people would stay at home and hold a séance or use a Ouija board with friends. Not only was this night arranged to give people a safe and comfortable space to try old spiritualist methods, but it was also intended to break a few stigmas along the way. The investigations took place while it was still light outside and, in most cases, we still had the lights turned on inside. Before reality television showed us how to investigate in night vision with the lights off in the darkness of night, this is often how investigators worked. It makes sense when a lot of reported paranormal experiences and sightings, occur during the day.

normal Tours Photo: © Black Rock House Para

Aside from the common table tipping, séance, and Ouija board sessions you commonly see at events, there was another ‘old school’ method I wanted to highlight to our guests that is often forgotten about. The very basic concept of ‘locking down a room’. This is something you can do not only on a paranormal investigation, but it is a great concept when investigating claims of paranormal phenomena. Place some trigger objects in the room and trace them onto a piece of paper. If these items are ‘moved’ during the course of night you would be able to tell. I also laid out a series of ping pong balls and then took a photo of the room and left it empty to see if anything moved while I was gone. In the past, people used to use powder on the floor to see if footprints would mysteriously appear or it could also indicate if someone had come to tamper with things. Unfortunately, these days it is not really acceptable to spread powder across expensive carpet, but aluminium foil does the same job! Take a photo of your set up and most importantly, close the door and tape up the seal with sticky tape. Write the time and date on the seal. This way you are able to see if anyone has entered the room and possibly tampered with things. In the few times I did this during our investigations there was no success, but this was one of the staple methods investigators used in the past to investigate claims of activity and something that is still very relevant today.

There are famous names from our past such as Harry Price and Hans Holzer were famous for their work within the paranormal and advancements within the field. Long before paranormal reality television shows, their work was published in newspapers, correspondence and featured in books – many of which they authored. Their kits were quite simple and, in most cases, electronic free. During this time, they were able to develop theories and methods which we still heavily look to even today. Technology is expensive and in a lot of cases unnecessary. It is not just the false positives they pick up; it is more about the culture of looking down at a piece of tech be it a mobile phone or a k2 meter. If you are looking down and focusing on a piece of equipment, are you missing something happening right before your eyes? Immerse yourself in the experience. Use your eyes, your ears and observe your surroundings. Take the time to talk to the location and you just never know, it may talk back! You can hear the past, but are you really listening? Catch you all later, ya flaming galahs…

Sarah x

Owner/Creator/Blogger

Living Life in Full Spectrum www.livinglifeinfullspectrum.com.au www.facebook.com/ livinglifeinfullspectrum

Sarah & Ragnorr at Black Rock

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House Old School Night

THROW A GHOST HUNTER INTO A RIVER…

“Is there a p the field of D

uring recent ghost hunting events that I have attended, alongside popular tv and online programmes the use of the old craft has made an appearance as a tool for gaining evidence of the afterlife. We have seen the use of demonic invocation, curtsy of Fred Batt on “Most Haunted”, rituals and Tarot taking place on “Hellier”, as well as Lady Snake performing spells on “Ghost Adventures”. There seems to be a global rise in witchcraft as is reflected in these popular shows, in books and on social media. It is therefore not surprising that these areas are fusing together once again, with the world of the paranormal. Historically the two have been conjoined, almost seamlessly. Now witches of all varieties and backgrounds are literally coming out of the broom closet and this has elicited the question of does magick have a place in modern ghost hunting? What does the use of the craft bring to the table if anything? How is it being used and by who? And to what purpose and how could it be used. But most importantly what are the pitfalls and dangers of performing sorcery within a haunted location? The purpose of this article is not to give an in-depth historical tour of the old ways, nor examine in great length the methods used in magick. This would be far too extensive for an article of this size. There are many good books, websites and videos that you can access if you wish to increase your knowledge (some will be noted at the end). However, I will briefly explore these ideas to contextualise them within the parameters of the article questions.

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place for witchcraft in f ghost hunting?” Kate Ray asks that age old question It is no secret that witches, the imagery at least, are regarded alongside the dead. Think of Halloween (Samhain), and conjured images amongst the pumpkins, skeletons, skulls and ghoul’s, sit the hags on brooms. The long-standing relationship with witchcraft, magick, and the disincarnate has a lineage as far back as the subjects began to be documented. The relationship is often, if not always portrayed in a grim, macabre, malevolent light. Witches have been accused, rightly or wrongly, in all cultures, of raising the dead for despicable tasks. This was often documented as an act that raised the dead in physical form or in spirit and these would do the dreadful bidding of the witch. Stories of witches setting zombies and ghost upon the living to terrorise and unleash chaos in the mortal world was the public’s view of a large part of the craft. Necromancy is a seen in many cultures and branches of witchcraft that often shapes such tales of raising corpses directly from the earth. From the African continent, Europe, the orients, as well as the Americas the stories are a popular thread and often used to demonise practitioners. Witchcraft has been seen as a force against the Christian church and other religions. This is demonstrated in the documentation of the witch trails and reflects religious fears and the drive to stamp out the old ways. Necromancy is also a term of summoning the spirit of the departed, today this act would be classified, in part at least, as mediumship. Through a medium, a person who can allegedly talk to spirits and these are said to manipulate the thoughts and actions of the medium to

impart information. The spirit is utilised, not only to confirm the notions of life after death but as part of divination. It was and still is believed that the spirit could foretell future events and come to assist in the transpiring of the events. Mediumship, as with necromancy, the raising and communing with the dead was firmly placed in the arena of black magick. Black magick is a set of principles, spells and rituals that could only be ill fated and wicked in the eyes of the public. It is considered that up until around the 1900s the use of communicating with the dead was firmly seen as an act against religion and blasphemy against God. Even now these beliefs exist, for the time being at least. The practice of channelling, the method of using the body and voice as a conduit, was another way to project the dead into the world of the living and used with much the same purpose as mediumship. Channelling sometimes falls in the parameters of necromancy but is also a term for transmuting energy which is the bringing of information from the astral and divine realms. For the convening of spirits summoning spells and rituals can be very effective. Summoning rituals are complex and extend beyond the calling up and channelling of the deceased. Summoning isn’t merely taking to spirits, it is a command, an order that must be obeyed. These rituals are often involved lengthy, intricate and time consuming, and certainly not for the inexperienced. In ancient cultures, and the Celts spring to mind here, had their own methods of

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communication. The deceased of a tribe were revered in their knowledge and wisdom they had gained in the mortal world. It is believed that ancient sites such as long barrows and burial mounds where used to house elevated peoples of the clans. The living could seek out the wisdom of the dead by visiting and calling up them, asking them for guidance. Similar practices from ancient times can be seen all over the globe. Shamans in native American culture would call upon their ancestral blood line during deep trance meditation. In some cultures, the actual corpse of a family member is dressed and paraded. This is a practice we still see today in an Indonesian village, Toraja, where the crumbling mummified corpses are dressed in their favourite clothes and seated in their beloved places. Such practices were held in high esteem and served as an integral part of community reflecting cycles of life and death. In Mexico, at the time when we celebrate Samhain, there takes places the largest of the year’s festivals, Día de Mertos, the day of the dead. This is a three-day long festival which places ancestors both old and newly past at the centre of feasting, parades and gift exchanging and is celebrated by the young and old. The dead are invited back into their beloved family homes which are adorn with altars made in their dedication. Although we may consider these rituals as a macabre act, they are far from sombre or morose. Día de Mertos is a colourful, vibrant exciting time, where the dead are invited to live in the mortal world.

Witchcraft, whether it be a singular person or the acts taking place in a community context seems to permeate peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s minds. Cultural belief systems of spirit interaction therefore extend beyond the coven. With whole populations engaging in festival, rituals and spell casting. These are not acts of the devil, far from it, but important turns of devotion, celebration and joy of the lives of those who have pasted on. I wish to spend some time analysing other ways in which magick has and is used in relation to the dead. These ideas pertain to practices that take place in the western world and particularly, but not exclusively to practices in the British Isles. To include a global view on the subject would be too vast, although some allowances have been made as they are areas that obviously traverse into modern practices. At certain times of the year, the day and the lunar cycles the veil is thinned between the material world and that of the ethereal. These are good times to commune and honour those who have passed over from this incarnation. In neo pagan terms these times include festive holidays such as the solstices, and the equinoxes. Samhain is thought as an exceptional time when portals are at their strongest. It is also believed that a good time is at dusk, dawn, midday and midnight as well as the dark and full moons. Natural and manmade portals also exist, hedgerows, gates, arches and the like can act as a gateway. The line that is created between water and the land in also a world in between worlds and can create a doorway. As can mirrors, (always place these in the home with caution) doorways and windows, even passages and halls can create powerful rifts. In scared spaces, created and natural, ancient sites and natural places can be a great place to call in the dead. Such places hold memories and energies that can be accessed. Sacred spaces are places that hold the energy of the land, as with lay lines, or hold the invoked energy given by humans, such as stone circles. Divination, the act of foretelling the future, is a staple grounding in witchcraft and one that has been performed for centuries. This takes many forms, and I want to just outline a few methods.

The act of dowsing, the use of holding either small metal or wooden rods is usually associated with divining water in the ground, it is also used in the acquisition of future knowledge, or fortune telling. A rod is held in either hand, in between the thumb and forefinger in an enclosed fist, the rods then move freely in either synchronised or against each other direction. It is believed that this movement is created by the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magnetic forces, in terms of detecting water. Within use for psychic or mediumship clarity it is said the direction is caused by the electromagnetic forces ghost emit. This same energy is said to effect modern equipment such as Mel meters. It is believed the ghost can manipulate the rods in directions to answer yes or no questions asked by the rod holder. I have also seen it utilised to find residual energies that may linger in property. In a similar way to the action of dowsing rods a pendulum is also used to pick up on these subtle energy fields. A pendulum is usually a small object, usually a crystal, though can be wooden or an item of jewellery such as a ring, attached to either string or a chain. This can then be handheld or placed on a cradle to start to work. Questions are asked and the direction of the swing of the pendulum will determine a yes or no answer. Gazing into blackened mirrors, pools of still water or crystal balls have been used for millennia, to acquire esoterica knowledge. This act is called scrying. The seer meditates on the surface of a polished object or water to divine images and words that are then interpreted. Other elements such as fire can create a similar experience. Scrying can affect all the psychic senses, as well as seeing images (clairvoyance), the gazer may experience clairaudience (psychic hearing), clairsentience (psychic feeling). These experiences are often attributed to connections with the other side, with the gazer seeing images of the dead. Such is the popular notion of the dead and mirror gazing that it has been featured in many Horror movies, Bloody Mary being one with disastrous ends. The Ouija board, also known as spirit or talking boards are fairly modern in terms of introduction as a means of spirit communication. To operate the this one or more sitters, gather around the board, which is around about the size of an A3 piece of paper. The board has the alphabet and numbers 0-9 adorning it,

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additions of yes, no, maybe, hello and goodbye are also common. These boards operate on the notion that ghosts, spirits or energies can manipulate the sitters or the board. The energy is transferred into a planchette (a flat heart shaped piece of wood with a viewing hole) or a glass that moves over the board. Messages are revealed where the planchette stops, either in single words or in sentences that come through. Steeped in a long line of mystery the Tarot cards in terms of a communication tool on ghost hunts is a new phenomenon. This mediaeval parlour game is used as both a tool to predict the future and counselling the sitter. The tarot is a deck of cards made up of 78 cards, the major arcana and minor arcana, 56 of the cards reflect a normal pack of cards containing numbers 1-10 and pip cards in four different suits, the remaining make up the major arcana. the major arcana follows the journey man, starting with the fool card and ending with the universe card. Packs differ in their imagery, but all follow the same basic set of principles and meanings. A sitter or sitters ask a series of questions and cards are chosen and interpreted by a reader. The reader tunes into the imagery and the relationships of the cards to seek clarity. These cards are placed in a specific arrangement depending on the nature if the questions asked. They are reported to inform the reader of past present and future events.

set resolution. Invocation is used in the calling up of deities, as a whole, but can also be used to call in spirits and is very precise in its nature. Witches take these areas very seriously and with a great amount of caution, following the rule “never call up what you can’t put down”. In witchcraft Protection is paramount, it is called upon on a regular basis and in a variety of ways. Whilst working with magick of any kind a practitioner becomes a beacon of energy that will attract both benign and malevolent energies to them. The wearing of black clothing is one of the most basic forms of protection, it is felt that this camouflages the wearer against energetic attacks. Have you ever considered why a ghost hunter chooses to wear black? Using colour magick is simple way of shielding against hidden powers, different colours correspond with different areas in protection. In terms of the protection and the field of the ghost hunter it is important to keep not only yourself safe, but also the people around you. The need to be protected from unseen forces has driven humans since Neolithic times. The use of fire wasn’t just seen as a force of warmth, a means of cooking and light, but revered for its protective properties. The fire not only kept away potential predator assaults but was seen to protect against unseen forces.

There are many rituals that are used in the working with spirits of the dead. Simple candle magick can be used to help focus the mind, to honour ancestors or scry with. The use of herbs left as offerings, to aid in invocations or for protection are common in use within witchcraft. Other rituals can be long, laborious, and that need knowledge and experience are largely hidden from the mainstream, and for good reason. Witchcraft is said not to be a secret society but a society with secrets. A have a go mind set with such things can lead to difficulties

Drawn symbols, marks and sigils can have always been used in protecting and warding, the evil eye, the pentagram, the Christian cross are to name a few and span different cultures and time. There are many ways to access and create images to use in warding and there are many good books on the market that explain the process. In countenance to witchcraft the Christian church had its own set of banishing symbols, the daisy, flower of life can be seen carved into religious buildings.

Summoning, calling out, inviting and invoking are spells, whether they are aware or not, ghost hunters do as a matter of course. The use of words with intention and focus can create spells, hence the word spelling (?) and the use of derogatory language is called cursing. Summoning very plainly put is an act of ordering a spirit up. Calling out is bring a spirit to you, often without placing caveats. Inviting is putting an invite out to specific spirits, and typically with a

Symbols can be used in several ways, these can be worn on the body, sewn into clothing, as jewellery or drawn onto the body. They can be placed in or around the home, sacred places, or in fact any place that a human settle. Think about your own home, do you have a lucky charm, maybe an icon, or item that is lucky like a horseshoe? These are deep resonances that are embedded in our culture and are usually carried out conscious thought.

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The question is then, with all these elements of witchcraft seeping into and now being embedded into ghost hunting, do they have a rightful place? Are they safe to use and what are the possible repercussions of their use? Although I have skimmed through the major areas in which could cross over into paranormal investigation, they give a good basis to answer the above questions. Overall the answer is Yes! witchcraft does have a rightful place in the field; however, this is with caution and boundaries. Even the most witchcraft sceptical ghost hunters in the scene will recognise and utilise some of the mentioned methods. Just by calling out, asking questions into the ether is creating a spell of sorts, using words to manifest energy. There are some areas that should be entered with high caution even for those who practice, and there are some that should be completely out of bounds, even for those with vast experience. The use of rituals, no matter how simple, should always be taken seriously, you should be aware of the things you are manifesting both intentionally and unintentionally. Unless you have thought through every possible outcome of a ritual, and have a good grounding in protection then these, I would suggest, should be left to those with experience. Even those with years of work under their belt get it wrong, lets refer here to Alister Crowley and his botched summoning that he attempted at loch ness. He failed to complete a long ritual spanning weeks, consequently the property he used to perform in has had a series of fires. Crowley himself declined into heroin addiction and his life spiralled downwards. If Crowley a notable person in the craft can cock things up, then think of the mess that could be caused by someone with half his knowledge. Whether these events where psychological, coincidental or magick they still highlight that caution is needed. It is a good rule of thumb that no matter what, if you start a ritual make sure you complete, or donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bother. Rituals can and do invite energies that may not have been intended, and some of these may be harmful. The best way to keep yourself and those around you safe in not to engage in anything you are unsure of. Simply searching the net, or even buying good books on rituals will not alone give anyone the skills, knowledge or experience needed to be in full control.

I would heed a warning about the practice of scrying and the use of Ouija boards, and glass work divination. There are appropriate ways to proceed that will to some extent safeguard the sitters before the session, during and after. A clear positive mind is always a good starting point, as is using grounding and protection techniques (many good tutorials of this can be found on the internet.) During the session being respectful, and aware as well as understanding how to open and close sessions appropriately. A method of energetic cleansing after any session, as well as the main ghost hunt, will clear away any negativity that you may have enticed. As with rituals, if you are ever in doubt about this kind of work simply donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t participate. These kind of vigil pursuits can be like dialling a random telephone number on your phone and asking questions, you never know who you are going to get. The sessions can also be manipulated both physically and metaphysically. The living can sway a session, whether it be a conscious decision or not and this can alter the mind set of those involve. Equally there is always the thought that spirits can use the board to deceive and manipulate the session for their own gains. The act of divination whether it be dowsing, or pendulum work can be an asset to a ghost hunter. It is relatively easy to implement and harbours a narrow margin for invitation of negative energies. Although I must stress again that all communication with spirit holds a chance of receiving unwanted attention. Unlike sitting on a Ouija board session, a single person is in control of the method and it is merely an indication of energy, much like a K2 meter.

There has been a deliberate holding back of the examination of the Tarot within ghost hunting, as this is the area that has led me to examine the topic as a whole. The use of this system has sat uncomfortably with me since I first encountered it being used on an event. The reader on this event lay a

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spread of cards with the intention of communicating to the deceased. Having worked with the Tarot for 28 years, they have become somewhat sacred as a tool to help the living. Personally, I spend a lot of time cleansing and charging each pack, of which I have many and for different situations. Some packs I keep for the sole purpose of personal readings, for myself. Others for those close to me and a pack dedicated for the broader public. These cards are believed to harbour the energies of the sitter as well as the reader, and to that end I will cleanse them after every reading. I have a theory that if they can harbour the energy of the living, then they can harbour the energy of the dead and I am not sure I would want discarnate energy lingering there. I would speculate that the cleansing methods I use would clear them of any attachment, however, I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to risk this. There is also the fact that Tarot hold incredibly involved images, with powerful symbols embedded. These can be focused on during meditative states to invoke forces from the spiritual realms. I am unsure that with the dead having access to these, along with the state of mind of the ghost hunter what the outcome would be. My own view on this is if this is something you wish to try, have a pack that is used only in haunted locations and for that objective. All these examples of warnings and caution play not only into the witchcraft and spiritual realm but have a psychological purpose. In the world of ghost hunting the mind is particularly susceptible to suggestions of a negative nature. Demons, malevolent spirits and dark forces are speculated a great deal amongst the community, and this can then play on the minds, whether on a conscience level or not. In taking precautions in all ghost hunting activities not only safeguards on an energetic level but also in terms of positive mental health. Witchcraft has a healthy relationship with ghost hunting and one that can and does produce some interesting results. The tools outlined can be another way in which the energies of the living and dead can bridge the gap and aid in interaction. But as in all areas of ghost hunting respect, knowledge, wisdom and caution are the key. Know your own limits and work within them to keep yourself and others safe.

Kate x

LAST ORDERS ON LOVECRAFT LANE

Part 2

Quentin Weir Ph.D. and Oddfellow encounter Elder Gods from the Cthulhu Mythos on a street of ill repute as slimy, suspicious, slithering things slide soundlessly through a sinful, saucy suburb. Art by Mychailo Kazybrid. Script, inks and letters by Bambos Georgiou Â©2020 Bambos Georgiou & Mychailo Kazybrid

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The End

BEN CANHAM A Special Contribution to the Paranormal

e’ve known Ben for well over a year now, our paths crossed in the summer of 2018 and we finally met him at Sage Paracon 2018, in November of that year and got on like a paranormal house on fire. Ben is the sort of person you can chat too for ages and not have to keep looking at your watch. He is not a celebrity, nor is he a paranormal TV star, Ben is just Ben, and this is what makes him who he is. At the end of November 2019, he was awarded with the title of ‘special contribution to the paranormal’ from the Higgypop Paranormal Entertainment Awards.

His battles with his Aspergers and his struggles with his depression are well documented (by himself), and because of this he is loved by lots of many of us on social media but also bullied by some on social media, for exactly the same reasons, the beauty of social media eh? He is probably not the sort of person a paranormal magazine should give page time too, it’s not the normal thing to do, but then again we are not normal, so we asked Ben some questions in the hope that for those that don’t know him it would give them a greater understanding of a person’s love the paranormal BUT for a person’s personal battles and demons. What’s to love and like about the paranormal?

I love the paranormal because it’s such a fantastic subject that I have become interested in and fully focused on. I’ve met such lovely people in in the paranormal community as well.

How long has the paranormal been an interest of yours? The paranormal has been interest of mine since the age of 18 when I sadly lost both my parents. Where’s the scariest place that you’ve been to, what happened? 30 East Drive in Pontefract I did a paranormal investigation there I was up the stairs alone because I needed to use the bathroom on a break during our investigation when I came out to head back downstairs I heard the taps turn on back in the bathroom I remember turning them off I then went to head downstairs to tell everyone then I felt a burning sensation on my body and there was 3 burn marks appeared across my stomach I freaked out definitely a night to remember. Have you ever seen a ghost? If so, when and where? Yes, I’ve seen phantom figures from the corners of my eye in my home on several occasions and I get the feeling I’m being watched. You’re quite open about your issues with your Aspergers, depression and such things, has being involved in the paranormal made it better to deal with at times? I am yes I like to think I can help inspire & influence other people in a similar situation and yes it has it has had a good impact on my life since I started I’ve made most of my friends through this subject.

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You’re very close to the Help! My House is Haunted team? What is it about Barri, Jayne & Chris that gives you this connection? Yes, I am yes, they’re good friends of mine I’ve known Chris, Barri and Jayne for some time now they have all had a positive impact on my life just like the rest of my friends have which I appreciate so much and I’m thankful that they all entered my life they also inspired me in the paranormal field. What are your hopes for the paranormal world in 2020 and beyond? I am hoping to grow my paranormal experience to another level where I invest and collect more haunted items for my collection, I also going to continue with making other people happy and help them in any way I can. Paranormal Bucket List, what are the top paranormal hotspots and locations that you’d love to visit? I love to investigate the locations as followed - Harrisville Farmhouse - The Queen Mary in California - Edinburgh Vaults Fox Hollow Farm - Zak Bagans Haunted Museum that’s a few of many places where I would like to investigate on paranormal investigations. You’re a Haunted Collector, what’s your favourite item, tell us more about them?

it’s really difficult choosing a favourite object from my collection I’ve got a couple of special objects one of them is a bottle of Peggy’s Holy Water that owner Jayne Harris gave me from Zak’s Haunted Museum in Las Vegas there were only two bottles of holy water that was blessed for Peggy the doll and Zak’s the owner of the other bottle I’m honoured to own a piece of paranormal history. My other item is a box that should never be opened that I have blessed and put a cross onto it every night I seem to get nightmares from the box where I’m being chased by the entity that’s attached to the red box. You were given an award SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE PARANORMAL in the recent Higgypop Paranormal Awards, how did you feel when you found out about this? I was lost for words when I found out I was the winner for contribution to the paranormal 2019! I was out at the time during this event and when I got back home and checked into social media I was in complete shock to have found out I won award I couldn’t thank everyone enough for choosing me for this special award it really meant a lot to me. If there is one thing that you could change about the paranormal, what would it be and why? I wouldn’t change it for anything I have found the right thing for me it’s such a fascinating subject and I’ve met so many lovely down to earth people in the paranormal community I am just going to carry on with making others smile and helping others and people with their paranormal problems. To follow Ben on twitter - @wweisawesome123 To find out more about Ben, watch this: https://www.bbc. co.uk/news/av/uk-england-leicestershire-45285555/manwho-lost-parents-finds-solace-in-haunted-objects

JANE ROWLEY REFLECTS ON HER RECENT JOURNEY

INTO THE

MIRROR E

arly on this year, Neil Packer and myself decided we wanted to do something different than a usual Investigation to celebrate Halloween. We had suggested several different experiments we could try and the most favourable one was to try and Astral Project into the large Arch Mirror located in the Séance Room at The Haunted Antiques Paranormal Research Centre. Having Astral Projected several times before, I was quite confident that we could do it safely and explore what was behind the mirror as so much activity has been recorded around this Mirror in recent times. Many people have captured interested photo’s, there is footage of SLS figures coming out of it and shadows and faces have been seen around it too, so it seemed an experiment that we should at least have a try at. On the night of Halloween, we met at the centre as arranged but unfortunately only Neil and myself turned up so it was only the two of us. We debated cancelling the event but I felt we should still try the experiment and see what happens. We went into the Séance room and set up. We decided Neil would operate the camera and watch over me as I went into deep meditation in order to leave my body and ‘fly’ into the mirror. Neil started the camera; I started my meditation music and we began. From here on in this becomes my account of what happened on my ‘journey’.

Listening to my meditation music and focussing on my breathing I relaxed deeper and deeper into the chair. I went to the point where I felt my body was completely supported by the energy of the Universe and that it was completely safe and protected for the next 30 minutes or so. When I was at a point when my spirit could leave my body, I lifted up and out of my physical body and gently moved towards the mirror. At this point I could see Neil and I paused in front of the mirror. I put my hand out to push through into the mirror but it was hard and unyielding. I was aware of a voice telling me that I could not enter the mirror this way and that I had to go up. I looked up and went skywards, through the roof of the centre and straight up. Up, Up and into the clouds. I was aware of the clouds and how they were changing colour, the first clouds having a reddish tint, then they changed to a faint orange shade. Up, and up I went. The clouds had a yellow tinge and then green. I recognised these as being the colours of the chakras. Up I continued to go, but I felt I was no longer on the physical earth as we know it, passing through a beautiful shade of aqua green clouds then a phase of faint purple clouds. After this was a beautiful white light which was warm and brilliant. It is here I stopped and a voice said to me that I cannot enter into the ‘mirror’ realm directly and I needed extra protection. At that point, the light that I was became much brighter and stronger. I felt Angels around me and it was them who had given me the protection.

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I began my descent back to the centre, passing through the clouds of colour only when I came out of the clouds everything was in black and white and grey tone. It was like viewing it all through and old black and white tv set. There was no colour. Back into the Research Centre I approached the mirror, Neil was still sitting there and I put my hand up and touched the surface of the mirror, and it went through. I entered and went down a long dark tunnel, I could see I was illuminating my path as I went with my own light.

“When I reached the other side of the tunnel, I found there was only darkness. Total blackness. No sound, but a cold stillness and not a spark of light anywhere. I continued on for a few moments. I then came upon a gathering of men, I say men, but they were far from modern day man.” I was drawn to a ‘Horned man’ with the goatee beard sitting higher than the others on the left-hand side of me. The being closest to me looked very much like the ‘Green Man’, a woodland being with greenery and thin brown twigs around his very old face. The next man was very large with long black hair and a beard to match. He had many wrinkles and his face was weathered and worn. He could well have been ‘Father Time’ for all I know but these beings were not welcoming. These beings felt ancient and as old as time itself. I glanced down the rest of them on and with my own light I could see they were standing in a ‘V’ formation, 5 either side with 2 Demon-like beings at the end - 13 in total, including the Horned Man. I was standing in the wider part of the V and it felt quite hostile. Were these the Guardians of this Gateway? I started to feel a bit overwhelmed and needed to be cautious. The environment was intimidating and I was beginning to be afraid. My way was blocked and I felt they were not going to let me go through this Gateway. I was considering turning back and I felt I was out of my depth. Then, one of the beings spoke to me. He said “What are you doing here?” I replied, “I just wanted to see what was here, I just wanted to learn more about this place.” There was a long silence as if they were considering what I had said. They then moved aside and the man who spoke pointed for me to go forward with his staff. Two of the beings from the back escorted me through the group. I could not see them but I was aware of two black shadows either side of me. We travelled through another pitch-black silent void and when we

came through that it was like the universe opened up. It was a vast expanse of space. Still quite dark, but it looked like there were lots of stars dotted around – some were just pin points of light. I then realised that these were not stars but doorways like our Mirror. It reminded me of Xavier’s Cerebro in the X-men, only these were not mutants that were in this vast space, but entities, creatures and spirits. It was like a spiritual Highway. The two shadows escorted me to one of the doorways, they waited outside whilst I entered the room on my own. Again, I felt quite scared. I looked around the room, it was a medium sized room but dimly lit with two small fire torches on the wall at the front. As I looked around the room, it looked like it was covered in gold, no windows only solid walls, and they were covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs. It felt like it was in a base room in a Pyramid. A figure then came into the room, I recognised him as Anubis with his black dog like face. He looked at me and said sternly “What are you doing here?” I said “I just wanted to see what was here and I just want to learn”. He said with a strong, intimidating voice “You should not be here!” I said “I do not mean you any harm; I just want to learn!” He continued to stare straight at me and then thoughtfully he said “There is much to learn” and he followed that by saying “It is now time for you to leave!” I said “Thank you” and bowed my head as a sign of respect and left the room. The escorts joined me again as I came out of the room and guided me back across the open space and through the black void to where the group of beings were. They said nothing but parted to allow my passage through. They watched my every move. The escorts joined the group and I was left to make my way through the next black void where I could see the light from the tunnel to the Mirror. I came back through the mirror to the black and white realm and flew straight out of the building and up through the Chakra coloured clouds until I got to the white light. The extra protection and light were returned to the Angels and my own light restored to normal. I came back down to the normal coloured reality and back to the Research Centre and reentered my body. Slowly coming back round. It was a big relief to be back and I know Neil was pleased that he did not have to come in to the Mirror to find me. Whilst it was a good experiment and it lasted just over 30 minutes; it will be sometime before I go back.

This adventure has certainly made me question a lot of things and has generated even more questions that I will have to try and find answers to. The journey is not over….

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Jane x

NOT SO ‘ORRIBLE HISTORIES with Penny Griffiths-Morgan*

his article may come as a bit of a surprise to some of you, on many levels I would wager, but stick with it and you will probably be as agog as I am to learn more. I’m going to take you back to World War II, and Russia. On the 15th October 1941, the city of Moscow was in a state of total panic, they had been expecting the German Wehrmacht for some time and here they were. What the Russians (and the Invaders for that matter) were unaware of was that a week previous, on the 8th October 1941, Stalin had given the order to have three women’s air units created. The person most historians believe to be responsible for this decision – or at least putting the thought in the Russian leader’s head – was Marina Raskova. Most people are familiar with female aviators such as Amelia Earhart and Amy Johnson, but most have not heard of Marina. She was born to a middle-

class Russian family in 1912 to an Opera singing father and a teacher mother and aspired to be a musician herself. Various events put paid to that dream, including her daughter being born in 1930 and she began working as a draftswoman for the Aero Navigation laboratory. Originally, she trained as a navigator cum pilot and was actually very famous as the first ever female soviet Navigator in the Russian Air Force in 1933. Just a year later, another first for Russian women, she became the first ever female flying instructor at the Zhukovsky Air Academy. The next few years saw her setting records for distance flights, building on her famous public image even further.

When war broke out, many women applied to become pilots and join the military. Interestingly this was not actually prohibited but the applications would become enmeshed in red tape and hit permanent walls to try and dissuade the fairer sex to continue with their applications. Haunted Magazine

Enter Marina. Being a Russian “heroine”, she had the ear of the leader, Joseph Stalin, and strongly suggested to him to use the female pilots and navigators to form their own units. The three different divisions of Marina’s plan consisted of the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, 587th Bomber Aviation Regiment and the 588th Night Bomber Regiment. Back to the women, it was (and still is) highly unusual to have combat pilots who are not men, but what was also noteworthy was their M.O., their battle plan if you like. These amazing aviators were flying Polikarpov U-2 aircraft, no fancy Mosquito’s or Beaufights or Junkers JU87’s for these women, the U-2 was a wood and canvas single engine open top bi-plane, nicknamed the crop duster and primarily used as a training aircraft. To make the most of the equipment that they had, they would be able to fly in without radar detection due to their size and structure, idle their engine to near stall speed, glide in low

*when we say not so’ orrible, some of it actually might be and drop their bombs – of which there would be two, one under each wing. Following a campaign strategy of both harassment and also precision bombing, this group had forty crews at its peak – with two people per aircraft, a pilot and navigator. The facts that cause me to make the “what!” face quite a lot whilst researching for this article was that the crews would fly between eight to twelve sorties per night, simply returning to their airfield to be restocked with bombs between trips. Frequently they came under attack from German Luftwaffe and would have to come up with ingenious ways to save their aircraft without weapons on board, no parachutes until 1944, no radios and making do with good oldfashioned pencil and paper to plot their courses. The one benefit of these crop dusters was that they were slow and that even their maximum speed was less than the stall speed of the fighters of the Luftwaffe which meant they were very hard to shoot down or engage with. Whether this lack of equipment was due to cost or the quote by Charlotte

Whitton “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.” one could debate at length. The official reason for this, and their method of protecting themselves from attacking Messerschmitt to be to duck, was due to the limited weight capacity of the U2. What we do know though is if they were shot by anything that had some kind of flammable component, it would cause the flimsy wood and canvas to go up like a firework. So why did I title this “not all witches fly broomsticks”, you may remember earlier that I described their technique of attack be to silently glide in and the only warning that the Germans would get of an approaching bombing was a swish of wind, causing them to be known as the “Night Witches”, likening the sound to broomsticks being ridden through the skies. They were an incredibly successful group of aviators, also helping with the defeat of the Germans by conducting over 23,670 sorties, more than 28,600 flying hours and attacking places like the Crimea, Belarus, Poland and

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Germany – the Polish offensive was over 5,000 sorties alone! Sadly, Marina did not see the end of the war, she died on the 4th January 1943 when her aircraft fatally crashed during a forced landing, but in yet another slightly pioneering move, she received the first state funeral of the war. As a flyer myself, I cannot imagine how these women achieved these kind of results – dropping around thirty thousand different types of explosives – in what was basically a rickety kit plane with none of the conventional resources attributed to other military teams whatsoever. I do hope you agree with me that these particular witches deserve to be recognised and remembered, perhaps thanked for their specific type of curse that they placed on the opposition. If you want to read more – and there is much more than I can put into a thousand word or so article- grab a copy of Defending the Motherland by Lyuba Vinogradova and fill your boots!

Penny x

HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN OR STAIRWAY TO HELL?

NEW WRITER ALERT!

*GUESS IT DEPENDS ON WHICH WAY YOU’RE GOING

top Greenwood Memorial in Spokane, Washington, an empty mausoleum sits alone. Snug against its back is a rotting staircase leading down to the street. Unsuspecting as such a staircase may look; local legend suggests a more sinister function. Herein lays the story of the “1000 Steps”. As timeworn graveyards became obsolescent in the late 1800s, the need for a “modern” burial site grew in the city of Spokane. This need eventually lead to the foundation of Greenwood Memorial Terrace in 1888. The 3-terrace cemetery began with two levels called the Flats and the Bench. The lowest-level Flats contain the front entrance gate, an office and a mélange of different grave markers and headstones. The Bench holds a different landscape, featuring high-society obelisks, mausoleums and family plots. It’s on the Bench that the mausoleum of the Elks sits uninhabited.

Photo: © Anne Coogan-Gehr

Stories have swirled for years regarding the purpose of the mausoleum and the staircase behind it. The explanations have ranged from satanic rituals and pagan meetings, to overgrown tunnels (which Greenwood has as

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and she is

PRETTY ‘Fn’ SPOOKY

well). The truth is hidden, however, within an agreement concocted by the fraternal organization called The Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elk. Their initial plan was to build a special mausoleum in which their brotherhood would be buried together, separate of their wives and children. Naturally their families objected and so the agreement ended, and the mausoleum and staircase were left to decay. As for paranormal activity, a multitude of claims have been reported over the years, particularly regarding the crumbling staircase.

Glowing orbs and full-bodied apparitions can be seen while climbing the stairs at night and disembodied moans of men, women and children can be heard from all directions. Some have even said that the supernatural energy is so tangible and thick, that it resembles the feeling of “rain falling on your skin”. This inundation of paranormal phenomena has led to feeling as though it takes “1000 steps” to get to the top, giving it the name, it has today.

Photo: © Nick Thomas

Upon my many personal visits to the mausoleum, I can confirm that there is a particular energy to the area. Whether it is a spiritual meeting place for the dead, a transcendent imprint of the esoteric brotherhood or just a study in Will-o’-the-wisp theories; I can feel mystical forces at work around the 1000 steps. Paranormal activity is rather rampant at Greenwood Memorial Terrace as a whole. This could point back to the aforementioned “overgrown tunnel” whereas a (supposedly haunted) train tunnel ran through the Bench until sealed off in 1974. In addition, numerous bodies were exhumed from various cemeteries to move into Greenwood during its conception and the act of digging up graves has always been known to stir up preternatural occurrences.

Photo: © Anne Coogan-Gehr

With so many factors contributing to the haunting of Greenwood Memorial Terrace, it’s likely the activity at 1000 Steps is more a spill over than an intended concentration. Greenwood could be so full of ghosts and ghouls that they venture out occasionally to take a stroll down the stairs. Then in the moments we catch a glimpse, do we become the ghosts in their stories instead? Well…those are theories and stories for another time.

Amanda Paulson is a paranorm al investigator located in Spokan e, Washington. She has bee n a paranormal enthusiast her enti re life but her investigating experie nce started in 2008 when she join ed a ghost hunting group in Mon tana. Since moving to Washington in 201 0, Amanda has been solo investigatin g all over the United States. A selfproclaimed paranormal historia n and highly sensitive person, Ama nda has had experiences with the occ ult since she was a young child. Thro ugh a scientific approach, Ama nda seeks to substantiate paranorm al claims with solid evidence and give peace and understanding to thos e experiencing paranormal acti vity. As the creator of Pretty Fn Spo oky, Amanda is a lifelong seeker of the unknown and lover of anything that might make you say, “that’s pret ty fricken spooky!” Contact info: @prettyfnspooky on Twitter, IG, FB

Email: Prettyfnspooky@gmail.co

Website: Prettyfnspooky.com

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t was a long four-and-a-half-hour drive from Davenport Iowa. I passed the time by staring playing games on my phone and watching YouTube videos. My stomach growled from hunger as dad parked the car in the driveway at 103 E 3rd Street. We have arrived at Malvern Manor. It’s an old hotel built in the 1860s. You see, when the “Malvern” was built, it was part of the local community, with town meetings, weddings, and special events. It was also a temporary stop for people traveling by train on their way to larger cities. Everything in Malvern, Iowa happened here.

It’s crazy to think about. These people actually lived here; they did everything here for years. After being sold a couple of times, the building has been a care facility for mentally challenged people as well as a nursing home facility. I imagined people visiting, sitting laughing and eating together. Their energy filled the rooms here. It still does. It’s sad to think about, but people also died around here. Bad things happened here. Very bad things like bullying, physical abuse and over medicated patients by caregivers so the patients would be like zombies and not “cause trouble”. One story I always think about is of a young girl. The same age as me, twelve. her name is Inez. In the 1900s Inez and her family occupied the hotel. Inez died a couple of blocks from Malvern, but her spirit is said to haunt these halls. Over this weekend, I want to connect with her and some other spirits. As I got out of the car, I could see the awesome new sign they installed out front. Its large with big letters and the smell of new paint. Now visitors can see they are welcome to stop in for a visit and a ghost tour when they are in town. As I turn to look at the front of Malvern, I see two people sitting on the front porch. Dad helps me unload some of my gear, I grab my camera and snap a picture of myself in front of the new sign. I see the people on the porch. They are also paranormal investigators just like me!

As we pull up at noon on Saturday the place looks pretty quiet. I walk in and see Josh Heard the owner, giving a ghost tour to some new lucky visitors, so I dropped off my backpack in his office. I quietly listen in to the story of the Manor again, which Josh always makes exciting. He is a great storyteller and shares about the interesting people who lived here. As we walk down the “shadow hallway” Josh tells the story of the Shadow Man often seen wandering around. We go upstairs and learn more about the other spirits I have come to know like Inez and Hank. I sort out my ghost hunting devices and get ready for the next ghost hunt. I download evidence off my video camera and digital recorder onto my computer. I save the evidence I captured to research later when I get home. I also take out the used-up batteries from my camera and digital recorder from the day before and put new ones in. After dinner, I team up with other paranormal investigators. We get the whole second floor to start with. As we begin the tour, I show the guests my lighted dowsing rods and how they work. They are pretty cool, and glow in the dark. I ask the spirits questions and get direct responses. Then, I have the guests ask questions. They watch in surprise as the dowsing rods answer their questions. Then my team walked down to the other end of the hall into Hank’s room. We did a Spiritus session. It is a device that communicates with spirits. It has a dictionary where the spirit energy can communicate by using words from its database.

Inside there is a moist, stale smell, the kind that makes you shiver, and paint is peeling off the walls but in a cool way that makes you think of a real haunted house and adds to its charm. The main room is dark and most of the windows have covers on them that give me a creepy eerie feeling.

As we start our second session, we take our group down to the “Shadow Hallway”. I awaken the spirits and the air using my Singing Bowl. After doing this three times, my teammate starts the Spiritus App and we start communicating with the spirits. We used a device called a Parascope. It detects static fields. We use the static electricity to detect the energy in the room we can’t see with our own eyes. At the opposite end of the hall someone notices one of the lights is starting to light up on the Mel Meter. My teammate asks spirit to light up the next light. It follows her commands. One by one. Eventually we visit Inez’s room. She’s the girl I was talking about earlier. She was my age when she died. In the papers, she had told a relative, she would “rather die than live with her birth mother” and was later found dead in a closet hanging by her jump rope. Some say she was depressed after she didn’t get good grades on her report card. The spirits were active again today. Inez wanted to play. She liked the gift I gave her, and she kept repeating the word “gift”. Hank was as stubborn as always. He kept repeating he wanted all the females to get out and leave his room.

Once everyone arrived, me and Josh’s daughter hand out the gifts I had brought for the spirits who live here. I always try to bring something to show the spirits I care about them. We take one gift to leave for the spirit of Inez, and Susie the owner’s daughter, leaves the other gift at Hanks room. Hank hates kids. I gave him a gift anyways. “Kill them with kindness” my dad always tells me. Hank was a bully to the nurses that tried to take

Soon it was time to pack up for the long drive home again. I repeated the singing bowl technique until the spirit activity died down closing the portal to the spirits. To end the night, I took a small group of visitors investigating around the manor grounds. As I walk out of the Malvern I look back and say goodbye to all the spirits I met tonight and tell them I will be back soon to chat and play.

We chat a little, and I decide to sit outside for a little bit to get my bearings. After about twenty minutes I walk in and take a good look around. Hmm! “Malvern” hasn’t changed much since I was here last June. In fact, it probably looks nearly the same as it did back in 1860.

care of him. He is already dead. But I can be kind to his spirit. After that, everyone decides it’s getting late, so we all go back to our places to sleep. We have a full day ahead of us tomorrow.

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”

MADI AT

THE MANOR INTERVIEW WITH MADISON SMITH BY VICKY C.S. LAURSEN

Madison Smith is a ghost hunter, a hunter of ghosts, a paranormal investigator, an investigator of the paranormal. She is 12 years old. TWELVE YEARS OLD!!

Most 12 year olds, or as they are commonly known as the “tweens”, not teenagers but not far off know about ghosts and spooks, let’s be honest anyone reading this who has kids of a similar age know that THEY KNOW EVERYTHING ALREADY, according to them. BUT I bet not many twelve-year olds go ghost hunting.

BUT GET THIS: She has been a paranormal investigator for 2 years, since she was 10 years old. There’s a lot of types out there that say, “ghost hunting is for people over aged 18” and “kids shouldn’t ghost hunt, it will mess with their minds and f**k them up”.

WILL IT, DOES IT, CAN IT, WOULD IT? I guess anything in life is possible but rather then make some sort of stereotypical judgement, I guess it has to be judged on an individual basis, trust me, I have been ghost hunting with adults, who (in my opinion), shouldn’t be ghost hunting.

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So, just who is Madison Smith, let’s find out…. We got out our pencil case and did what every 12-year-old hates – HOMEWORK!!

Two years in, as a paranormal investigator, Madison enjoys exploring mysterious locations alleged to be haunted with spirits. She examines the evidence that she captures herself, trying to catch all types of paranormal activity using her ghost detection devices. She was taught how to use them by her network of seasoned paranormal mentors. With Daniel Klaes

Madison, how did it all start? I was young around four I believe when I became interested in the paranormal. I started watching paranormal videos on YouTube and got hooked on wanting to learn more. I started ghost hunting when I was ten. My dad signed me up for an investigation at a location called Renwick Mansion in our state. I met a lot of paranormal investigators’ there, and they all support each other. They have become my second family and I enjoy seeing them at different locations and Paranormal Conventions each year. Your dad signed you up, interesting, what about family life & school, does the paranormal get in the way sometimes? Our family is Christian, but we don’t attend church regularly. I am pretty busy with softball and ghost investigating. I try to get all my homework done at school. If I don’t have good grades, my parents say I can’t keep investigating. It really motivates me to do well in school.

With Chris from the Tennessee Wraith Chasers

A lot of people explore their local area to get a feel of ghost hunting, did you? Unfortunately, I did not grow up in a haunted area like many other paranormal investigators out there, but there are places near me that have tons of activity. I think the paranormal is interesting, I love to learn about the spirits and their past lives. I think It’s fun to learn about places and then be able to have the ghost communicate in one form or another to me. I want to keep finding paranormal evidence to prove to sceptics that ghosts do exist. Once at a location called Rock Island in Illinois, I made contact with a spirit, and have never forgotten what it was like.

With Dougie and Mike from the Tennesse Wraith Chasers

Tell us more about your school life… If you meet me at school you may say I am low energy. I just go about my day to get it over with. When I’m ghost Investigating, I go from low to super high energy. I think It’s so fun. I am in my comfort zone ghost hunting and have no problems taking a bunch of kids or adults on a ghost tour. Before I started investigating, I was shy. Now I am getting used to meeting new people. What do your friends and others at school think about it? Some kids are sceptics, but it doesn’t bother me. I think sceptics are just people who need proof that spirits exist before they can believe. I tell them to open their minds and try not to overthink everything you see or hear. Just be open to it.

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“I really want to get more kids involved in the paranormal. If kids are interested, I am open to talking to them.”

comfortable when I am in the zone with my other paranormal investigator friends. I really want to get more kids involved in the paranormal. If kids are interested, I am open to talking to them. So, back to ghost hunting, how do you approach it? I like to do a little research before we leave for the ghost hunt, so I know the history of the building and its people. To pass the time on the long drive to locations I use my phone to watch videos and play games. It clears my mind in a way, so I can be ready for the ghost hunt. If I get hungry, I eat candy and drink fruit drinks. (hey don’t we all – editor) What are the Advantages of being a young Paranormal Investigator? When you’re a child you haven’t started blocking ideas that don’t make sense, out of your mind. Although being young has given me a chance to investigate most of the time you don’t see people my age doing this. Many locations are ages 18 and older, so I am not allowed. I think the more kids that get involved, the more location owners will be open to allowing us in. When I investigate, I am always watching for other kids to show up. I like to team up with them. There aren’t as many kids in the field as you would think. And what do you feel about the locations you visit? Sometimes I am drawn back to the same locations. I make friends with the spirits and I learn about their past. Sometimes if you’re lucky you can capture a voice EVP or see an apparition. I try to debunk noises that may be other things like wind or a creaking floorboard. Not everything is paranormal. I watch horror movies, and they don’t scare me. The only things that scare me are creepy dolls and bugs. Do you ever feel scared or feel like ghosts are trying how to mess with you?

Some kids are fine about me being a ghost investigator and some aren’t. It’s a mixed reaction. Everyone has their own opinions of what they think of me. I am okay with that. I respect their opinion even if it’s different than mine. If kids are interested, I tell them my personal stories about my investigations. I think if I tell them about it, they will feel less afraid of the paranormal and come with me some time.

When I meet negative spirits, I tell them that I’m not there to hurt them and if it gets too intense, I just walk away from the situation. When I am ready to go home, I tell the spirits I am leaving them. They need to stay where they live. And that I will be back to visit them again soon. So far, I have not had any attachments. Sometimes after going to a location I feel different. Drained of energy. I have learned how to burn sage to cleanse myself. Most 12-year-old Favourite gadget would be their phone; I imagine yours is something else?

My favourite piece of ghost hunting equipment is the Mel Meter. I love the story behind the reason it was built. A father built it to talk to his daughter who had passed away. I have a video recorder and a voice recorder to record any paranormal activity. I use crystal pendulums to talk with the spirits.

There are people out there who say, “ghost hunting isn’t for kids”, what would you say to that?

What’s your ghost hunting essentials you take when you’re investigating?

I think ghost hunting can help kids at school who have been teased and bullied. For me, ghost hunting gives me a comfortable place to feel welcome. I feel so safe and

In my ghost hunting backpack, I have my flashlight, lighted dowsing rods, Mel Meter and a light up stuffed bear. I love my dowsing rods because I can see them in the dark, so

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no lights or electricity are needed. Great in old haunted locations. I have also used a Ouija board. It is just another tool to talk to spirits. It is a portal. After you have talked with a spirit using a Ouija board, you should close the portal. If you do not close the portal, negative spirits can come through and very bad things can happen. What paranormal experiences have you had, so far? I have seen a few shadow people and talked to them using my spiritus app on my phone. I have been touched, but it wasn’t a negative experience. I enjoy capturing evidence. There is nothing better than an EVP to prove something or a picture or video. Ghost hunting is an expensive business…

Ghost hunting can be expensive. I go as much as possible. To pay for ghost hunts I mostly save money I get for doing chores like folding laundry, washing dishes and help cooking. I make part of the money selling my handmade pendulums. I don’t mind doing chores, because I know it will allow me to go on ghost hunts. What’s on your paranormal bucket list? Two of my dream locations to visit are the Haunted Hinsdale House in New York, and Waverly Hills Sanitorium in Louisville Kentucky. I would love to be invited to the UK and investigate a castle one day. (am sure we can help, we know people – editor) So, away from the paranormal, what are your other interest and hobbies? I play softball, I like to draw, and I love researching history. I am against bullying and I am a member of the “Paranormal Bully Busters”. I also spend time with my two dogs Lucy is a Chiweenie and Sassy is a Boston Terrier. What things annoy you about the paranormal? I don’t like that people call us “Ghost Hunter’s” because we are not actually hunting ghosts. That term makes me feel like we are chasing them down to do them harm. I am just talking to spirits not trying to harm them. (ouch – how many times have we called Madi a “ghost hunter” in this, oops – editor) And what’s coming up for Madison Smith, (ahem) Paranormal Investigator? I have thought about starting my own YouTube channel. It would probably be talking about paranormal activity. Right now, I have my own podcast show called SpoopyTalk (no it’s not a spelling mistake – editor). I have thought of filming my own ghost hunts and editing them myself. But would need help since I don’t know anything about doing that. My goal right now is to keep searching for paranormal evidence.

ParaCons across Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Places Madison frequently investigates are: Old YMCA Rock Island, Illinois Farrar Schoolhouse Maxwell, Iowa Malvern Manor Malvern, Iowa Eloise Asylum Westland, Michigan Conover Square Mall Oregon, Illinois Any advice for young people interested in what you do & wanting to give it a go? I have experienced paranormal activity in daylight and at night. This is a good way to investigate two locations in one day. I would tell them don’t be afraid. Always have someone with you, never go alone it could be dangerous. And don’t let other people talk you out of ghost hunting if you think it’s fun. I would definitely recommend other kids to ghost hunt. It’s an exciting way to learn about History.

And if our readers want to know more about you where can they see you, hear about you etc? You can find me answering questions on “What it’s like to be a kid in the Paranormal Field” on Paranormal Panels at

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Vicky C. S. Laursen works freelance as a publicist for assorted paranormal celebrities and as a publications assistant for The Haunted Hinsdale House in Hinsdale, New York. She is also an inventor of software solutions that help raise money and awareness for haunted locations. Book author, Video editor and Storyteller. She is from San Francisco, California but now resides in Europe with part of her family.

BRITS, CHIPS, DIPS, BEERS, SCARES, WAILS & ALES “THE SPOOK-EATS UK TOUR”

By Amanda R. Woomer (Spook-Eats)

British Invasion, eh? No, we’re not talking about the ghosts of John Lennon or Keith Moon (though I’m down for that, too). I’m talking about my very own British Invasion where a Yankee girl like me ate and drank her way through England, Scotland, and Wales. From the end of August through September, I visited Britain’s haunted cemeteries, battlefields, castles, and pubs, and came out with a deep-seated jealousy of the haunted hospitality scene happening in Great Britain at the moment. If I had a buck (excuse me, a quid) for every time I saw a pub claiming to be the most haunted pub/inn/tavern/ public house in Britain, I’d be able to drink my weight in cask ales. The way that British pubs and restaurants wear their hauntings like a badge

of honour got me scratching my head, wondering why it isn’t the same in the Colonies. In America, I’ve found a vast spectrum when it comes to restaurants, bars, and hotels and their haunted histories. Some places are ambivalent—they’ll talk about it if asked but are rather wishywashy. Others use it as a marketing technique, highlighting their haunting in their dishes and décor. But I’ve found in my Spook-Eats journey that more often than not, places aren’t as open to talking about their ghost stories as one might think. Where you and I might find an unsolved murder in the basement or a poltergeist smashing glasses in the bar totally awesome, these places like to keep their skeletons in the closet, shushing anyone who might try to ask questions.

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As you might expect, as a paranormal researcher (much less one who focuses on restaurants and bars), this is not only infuriating but also disheartening. Enter stage left: British pubs. Even when they’re not trying, pubs in Britain are far superior in their spook factor than the bars in America. Not only do these places share their ghost stories, but (more importantly) they share their ghost’s stories.

The Grenadier in London is home to Cedric, a young soldier who was murdered for cheating at cards. Patrons now pin banknotes and dollar bills to the ceiling in the hope of paying off his debt. Stirling’s oldest alehouse, the Settle Inn, is said to be home to the restless spirits of Jacobite warriors who were brought there after Bonnie Prince Charlie’s siege on the castle in 1746. More than five ghost stories surround the Drovers Inn on the shores of Loch Lomond, including a child and a cattle drover. The fact that it is supposedly the old watering hole for Rob Roy doesn’t take away from the stories either. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham has their own cursed object in the imposing and filthy haunted galleon. The ever-famous Cavern Club is said to be haunted by the Devil, himself (look! I tied the British Invasion in again!). The Golden Fleece at the base of the Shambles in York has at least five ghosts, and most of them have names: Lady Alice Peckett, Geoff Monroe, and One-Eyed Jack (not a unique name, but we’ll take it!). Even my afternoon tea at Lord Darnley’s in Stirling was supposedly haunted! Everywhere I turned, there was a ghost story to be had while sipping on my pint, and it got me wondering why is it that the Brits are not only willing to talk about the spirits haunting their establishments, but hungry to do so. I could say that Americans are prone to panic and drama, so if you learn a creepy ghost child haunts your favourite bar, it’d be nothing short of the end of the world because it’s like so totally freaky and scary and… uh! I can’t even! Maybe it’s because we’ve replaced antiquated pubs with bright lights, dubstep, and IPAs. Or perhaps it’s because we are completely addicted and dependent on things like our phones and social media that the things that go bump in the night no longer frighten us. Superstitions of the olden days have no place in 2019, right? And yet, the haunted pubs of Britain with their sticky floors, dark wood, and dim lighting are just as popular as they were 200, 300, even 700 years ago. Not only are they surviving in a world so fast-paced they should be left in the dust, but they are thriving. Britain! How do you do it? After many nights lurking in public

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houses and after even more pints (I have a serious love affair with cask ales), I think I’ve cracked the code: History. It has everything to do with history. For centuries throughout England and Scotland, history has lived simultaneously alongside the present moment. Instead of knocking down old buildings and replace them with something shiny and new, they are reused as apartments, shops, restaurants, and (of course) pubs. History and its mysteries aren’t swept under the carpet and forgotten. It is forever out in the open, for anyone curious to stop by for a look (and a drink). Where America is still in its infancy, always knocking down to rebuild, Britain has settled in its glorious vintage state, content to stew in its ghost stories. So when American hotels that were once insane asylums don’t even utter the word, “Ghost,” pubs in Britain put human skulls on display and hang plaques that read, “Someone was murdered right where you’re sitting… enjoy your meat pie! Cheers!” (that may or may not be a direct quote). I may be bitter now that I’m back on America soil, surrounded by bars and pubs in denial… but I’m also grateful for the pubs in Britain. Keep being weird. Keep serving cask ales.. Keep displaying executed traitors’ heads… But most importantly, keep telling your ghost’s stories…. the Americans will catch up someday (if I have any say in the matter). Until next time, or you lot say “cheerio”

Amanda X

DOWS. ACCRINGTON SHA WHO ARE THEY?

A GHO B

uilt in 1890, the Accrington Conservative Club was a magnificent Grade II listed building is currently in a dire state of disrepair. The largest of its kind in the country, it was built by WJ Morely and G Woodhouse, funded by Mr Howard, who was a partner with Mr Bullough in one of the largest textile machinery factories in Britain. The Conservative Club regularly held dances on its magnificent 3rd floor ballroom, one of only two sprung dance floors (the other being the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool) and regular private parties on its two 2nd floor bars and function rooms. The ground floor bar was members only, with two full size snooker tables built by the Riley Snooker and Billiard Table Company. There was dusty old red velvet seating and dark wood panelling that oozed history. The building felt dark though, oppressive and uncomfortable at times with an atmosphere all of its own. The building has been closed several years and has suffered from vandalism and a fire which gutted the premises. My father was a member of the Club Committee for many years and held the position of Treasurer. At the time, in the late 1970’s and 1980’s the Club was, I believe, bankrolled by Thwaites Brewery of Blackburn, and held regular Saturday night dances in the Ballroom, to which people came from miles around. When I started working there in the late 1980’s as a glass collector whilst studying at College, the stuffy old time atmosphere of the Ballroom with its ‘Big

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ACCRINGTON SHA DOWS. WHO ARE THEY?

ST TORY Bands’ and ageing clientele were like something from the 1970’s. Flares and Quiff’s were the order of the day and the smell of Brylcreem still lingers with me today. If I said the average age of the patrons was in the 50s and 60s even, then it wouldn’t be an understatement. The ballroom was magnificent though. It had a high ceiling with large stained-glass windows along either side depicting Accrington’s Town Guilds – associations of like-minded tradesmen. At one end was the bar and at the other, the stage. There was a presence that felt uncomfortable and many staff refused to go through the back to check the fire escape door. As I turned 18, I graduated to serving behind the bar and occasionally worked on the ground floor as well as stocking the bars on weekend mornings. On one particular quiet midweek evening I was manning the members bar on my own, and thoroughly bored. The bar itself was fairly long and straight, maybe about 25 foot or so from memory with an opening to my left into the snooker room. It was made of dark wood, perhaps stained oak, and was lacquered. It added to the already dark atmosphere of the room. There was nobody playing snooker that evening and I recall not many people had been in for a drink. Bernard was pottering about on the upstairs floors leaving me alone for most of the night. As I was stood with my back against the rear of the bar, the opening to the snooker room to my left, I saw a figure out of the corner of my eye. As I turned my head to see who it was, (I presumed a customer had somehow slipped past my gaze and gone into the adjoining room), I saw the outline of a tall man, dressed in long dark clothes with what looked like an angular hat, rather like a Fedora, leaning on the bar. It had no facial features at all. The figure was opaque, like a thick mist, and quite substantial. It had no arms that I could see, and because it was behind a waist high bar, I could not see its legs. It was leaning over towards me, seemingly looking for something down on the floor or behind the bar. The figure was tall and thin, much thinner than a real person and looked ‘stretched’ out almost as if it was being pulled from both ends! All this was indelibly etched into my memory, despite the figure slowly fading to a mist and disappearing after only a few seconds. At first, I felt amazement, but then suddenly my

heart started to beat faster as I panicked and realised what I had seen. I had actually seen a ghost! No sooner than the figure had faded away than I rang the upstairs bars on the internal phone until Bernard answered and came down. He could tell I was somewhat disturbed as I blurted out something about a ghost. In a fairly calm manner, he explained that there was indeed a ghost that occasionally manifested itself at the end of the bar. Quite a few members of staff, himself included, had seen him. Although quite a few people had seen this apparition, nobody knew who he was. They all described it as tall and shadowy, and when I told Bernard it looked ‘stretched’, he nodded and agreed. He had seen that too. I would have liked to have seen the figure again, as, in truth, I didn’t feel any malevolence coming from it, but despite working in the ground floor bar many times, and often locking up at the end of the night when I was on my own , I only saw that apparition that one time.

Another incident of paranormal activity I witnessed at the club again happened in daylight and was a Saturday morning whilst I was up in the ballroom stocking the bar. There was only myself and another guy called John in the building, and he was busy stocking the ground floor bar and changing barrels in the cellar. There was a small lift system between the cellar and the three floors above and I had loaded it with crates of bottles. After sending the lift on its way I trudged up the three flights of winding stairs to the ballroom. I went into the storeroom and started unloading the crates when I suddenly heard glass smashing in the bar. I hurried through to see if anyone else was there but there was no one. I was alone. Suddenly I felt uneasy. Looking down I saw glass strewn across the floor behind the bar. How had this happened I wondered? From the pieces of glass, I realised it was a barrel handled pint glass. These types of glasses are rare, imagine a heavy, thick round glass with dimpled sides and a handle. They were popular back in the day with working men who demanded ‘a proper pint

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of bitter in a real pint glass with a handle’. These glasses were kept above the bar hanging on very sturdy hooks, very deeply curved to make sure the glasses didn’t fall off. In order to get a glass off the hook you had to lift it upwards and sideways and because of its weight and shape there was absolutely no way it could simply slip or fall off. All the glasses were hanging there apart from one empty hook. I stood and looked at the shattered glass trying to work out how it could have fallen on the floor with such force without being physically lifted off. There was no one else around, and there was no way someone could have come through into the bar. My only conclusion was that some unseen hand had physically lifted the glass off the hook and thrown it on the floor. At this point I started to feel something disturbing, like an actual physical threat. I felt like there was something there that didn’t like me. Whether this was a reaction to a very clear example of paranormal activity, or a change in the atmosphere that I was sensing, is difficult to say. What I do question is if this was a natural occurrence, for example, the glass simply fell off the hook, why did it happen at that particular time? To my knowledge nobody in the club had ever mentioned witnessing a similar incident themselves. Why did the glass fall off a substantial hook, which was still screwed into the ceiling of the bar, and undamaged, at the very moment I was in the stockroom alone, in broad daylight? If there were, for instance vibrations that caused it to fall, how did it lift half an inch so that the handle could clear the hook, and why just this one glass? Why not others? Even after all these years I am convinced that the glass was deliberately removed from the hook and thrown on the floor by an unseen paranormal force in order to frighten me.

Old buildings like the Accrington Conservative Club have seen years of history and it is not surprising they hold echoes of their past within their structure and foundations. There was a dark, unwelcoming atmosphere in parts of the building. I remain convinced that there were at least two ghosts or entities in the building, and I would not be surprised if there were more.

Craig Bryant

Craig Bryant was born in 1966 in Lancashire. He grew up in Accrington and has been fascinated by the paranormal, UFO’s, legends and folklore since childhood. He still lives in Lancashire, close to Pendle Hill.

‘The Shadowman of Accrington’ is a collection of paranormal and unexplained stories in the county of Lancashire, collected by the author over 30 years. The book tells of encounters by the author and his own ghostly experiences as well as first-hand accounts of haunted houses and places that have never before been published. Poltergeists, a haunted school, the ghost of a boy with no legs, the Pendle Witches, spectral animals, headless dog Boggar ts and strange lights in the sky - this book tells in detail the spine chilling and hair raising accounts of ghostly happenings and weird paranormal events in the old county of Lancashire.

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Richard Estep’s STEP BY E-STEP GUIDE TO THE PARANORMAL for myself, there was no way I was going to turn him down. The hospital is located in Tennessee, which meant flying, rather than driving. I turned to two of my closest friends to accompany me on a five-night investigation that found the three of us getting up close and personal with some of the hospital’s resident spirits.

I am generally pretty skeptical when it comes to claims of locations being haunted, so I made sure to ask around first. The Klinge Brothers had gotten results there, and my friend Scott Porter of the Tennessee Wraith Chasers told me that the case was legit. As with so many places, however, it was tough to separate truth from fiction when it came down to some of the stories that surrounded OSPH.

An OLDIE but a

DOOGIE

BY RICHARD “THE HAUNTED HOSPITALS GUY” ESTEP

lthough it was never a conscious choice that I made, at some point on my paranormal journey, I somehow became the ‘Haunted Hospitals’ guy. As far as I am concerned, that’s just fine and dandy. Having written several books about ghosts and their relationship to the medical profession, then served as an on-camera subject matter ‘expert’ for the TV series Haunted Hospitals, I have greatly enjoyed investigating some extremely haunted houses of healing (and a few others that didn’t quite live up to their reputation). All of this meant that when Ronnie Dee, the owner of the nowinfamous Old South Pittsburg Hospital (OSPH), offered me the opportunity to visit for a few days and research its haunting

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What we can say with confidence is that after it first opened its doors in 1959, OSPH spent the better part of forty years taking care of the sick and injured, before discharging its last patient in 1998. Stories abound of the hospital having been built on Native American land (where in America isn’t?) and the confluence of several ley lines. The proximity of underground water and a nearby mountain have also been put forward as possible explanations for the paranormal activity that numerous eyewitnesses have reported experiencing down through the years.

“OSPH has something I have never come across before: a haunted elevator. It is claimed that a doctor went into cardiac arrest inside the lift and was unable to be resuscitated.” Nor is his the only ghost that has been seen reported from inside the hospital. Take Jeff (not his real name), a former live-in janitor, who spent most of his time hanging out on the ground floor. Jeff was heavily into music, and had created his own marijuana-themed comic book character called Pot Man — so we figured he was going to love meeting a paranormal team from the Mile-High City...

a wealth of information. They gave us a whistle stop tour of the place, taking us from floor to floor an pointing out some of the hot spots. We were advised to focus some attention on the second-floor nurses’ station, especially between 5:30 and 6:30 PM, when it was supposed to be at its most active. I was a little skeptical of that, but decided to take them at their word, and we all took seats on the comfortable leather furniture that occupied the centre of the hallway. From there, we had a great field of view down the length of what was called the ‘Shadow Hallway,’ a long corridor with patient rooms on either side, that led to the geriatric wing.

It was grey and overcast when I pulled into the parking lot at OSPH. The rain was only going to get heavier as afternoon turned to evening, and the commonly held theory that paranormal activity increases during inclement weather turned out to hold true. I was joined by fellow researcher Jason, who I had worked with on countless cases over the past few years, and Stephen, a paranormal investigator and Catholic priest who had proven himself to be indispensable during other investigations. We did not know it at the time, but the three of us were in for a wild ride.

As night fell outside the hospital, it began to get dark inside. The vast majority of OSPH has no electrical supply whatsoever, and no Wi-Fi network either, so EMF meters were actually somewhat useful on this investigation. So were Rem-Pods, which would alarm on a regular basis without anything to set them off. I sat there in a comfortable leather armchair, running a digital voice recorder, and interviewing our hosts about some of their experiences. Jason and Stephen were sitting at the far end of the Shadow Hallway, hoping to catch sight of the full-bodied male apparition that had been seen down there. I glanced up from my tablet, where I had been taking notes, and froze. There, standing in the doorway behind the nurse’s station, was a shadow figure. It had a distinctly male build and was about the same size and height as Stephen. For a split-second, I thought it was him.

Our hosts were Leanne and Zach, two volunteers who knew the hospital inside and out. We would also be joined by Cindy, the property manager, who also possessed

Jason set up a Tesla coil in the center of the hallway and fired it up. The device began spitting out blue plasma, but more importantly, giving off a flood of electromagnetic energy. Our hope was that it would act as a potential fuel source for paranormal activity.

“What’s up, priest?” I asked. Then I heard him speak from more than fifty feet away.

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movement of shadows. I have taken part in this activity several times, and the problem is that our eyes are so easily fooled. Look at something long enough in a low light, and the chances are that your brain will start to invent movement and distortion, whether it is really happening or not. (This is also one of the issues with mirror scrying).

“The shadow figure that I saw, on the other hand, was close, not at the end of a hallway. It could not have been more than ten feet away, and rather than being some vague, nebulous mass, it had clearly defined arms, legs, torso, and a head — albeit without any recognizable facial features. I could hardly believe my eyes. At the same time, though, I know what I saw.

He hadn’t moved from his spot. I recalled from the tour that there was no physical way he could have gotten past me to the nurse’s station anyway, because the two parts of the building didn’t directly connect. Everybody in the building was accounted for, and we were locked in.

So, who the hell was it? I flew out of the chair like it was on fire. The shadow figure ducked back into the room it had come from. I made it in there in less than five seconds. It was big, spacious, and empty, with only one exit, and my eyes had been on it the entire time. Nobody could have gotten in or out of the room without my having seen them. “What the hell happened?” Jason wanted to know, appearing in the doorway behind me.

“I just saw a shadow figure. Above five foot, eight inches tall. Standing right there where you are now, plain as day.” “I hate you,” he grumbled, shaking his head. Jason has an ‘always a bridesmaid, never a bride’ mentality sometimes. When it comes to experiencing something paranormal, he is usually the last in line. Being the resident team pragmatist sometimes has its disadvantages, but then again, we can usually depend on him to play Devil’s Advocate, which is always useful. Whenever I hear claims of somebody seeing a shadow figure, the first thing I think of is that their eyes were playing tricks on them — either that, or an overactive imagination is at play. Many paranormal enthusiasts like to hallway gaze, sitting in a dark corridor in nearblackout conditions and watch for the

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Over the course of our stay, the hospital rewarded us with with a plethora of EVPs. One of the most fruitful locations was the body box, a small, confined area about the size of a walk-in closet that was next to the emergency department waiting room. According to our hosts, this part of the hospital was used as a makeshift morgue when the situation required it, temporarily storing the bodies of those who died at OSPH. Four of us sat inside the cramped little space, running a burst EVP session. When we played the file back, we were blown away at what we heard: A gruff male voice, one that definitely did not belong to anybody on our team, growled the words: FOUR, followed by F*@! OFF! Clearly, somebody did not want us intruding on his private space. Another hotspot was the room housing the autoclave, a device used to sterilize surgical equipment by heating it to very high temperatures — a bit like a pressure cooker, but a lot more expensive. We spent some time conducting Estes Method sessions in there, with the room in complete darkness. On playback, a different male voice was heard to say:

LOOK OUT BACK.

As the week went on, the hospital got less active as the weather improved, but it never let us down entirely. Stephen caught sight of a figure in white disappearing from view at the end of the Shadow Hallway. A bright white light filling the front lobby one night turned to be something completely non-paranormal: a visit from the local police department, who liked to keep a watchful eye on the place, to make sure that nobody was breaking in. I could not help but ask the cop if he knew any strange stories about the hospital. He told me that one night, several years before, he and two other officers had been sent to check out reports of kids throwing things off the roof. When they pulled into the parking lot and shone their flashlight beams up at the roof, there was no sign of any kids — but somebody was standing stock still in one of the thirdfloor windows, just looking right back at them. They made entry into the hospital and began to clear it, moving slowly and methodically from room to room, climbing from floor to floor. Unbeknownst to them, their radios and cell phones had all stopped working. The 911 dispatcher was half out of their mind with worry; after all, three officers suddenly going radio silent without explanation could turn out to have a very bad explanation. With that in mind, additional units were immediately dispatched as backup. The responding officers saw their colleagues’ cruisers parked in the hospital lot. They, too, lit the building up with spotlights, then made their way inside. It did not take long for them to link up with the missing officers and establish that they were alright — except now, their radios and cell phones were dead too. Now that there were more hands available, it took just a few more minutes to clear the building and establish that there were no indications of breaking and entering. The old hospital was locked up and secure — which only made it seem all the stranger when the second wave of cops wanted to know exactly who it was that had been staring down at them from the third floor... Our radios worked inside the building just fine (although we did experience several unexplained power drains) and our cell phones worked well enough, as long as we had a certain carrier. Spirit Box experiments also yielded interesting results. Stephen was called a pussy several times, which reduced the rest of us to fits of laughter. At the end of a hallway on the third floor, reputed to be the most active at OSPH, is Nancy’s room (not her real name). Named after an old female resident who had sadly passed away in there, Nancy had a reputation for getting a little bit handsy with male visitors. Determined to put this story to the test, I laid down on Nancy’s bed while Jason, Stephen, and Cindy tried a scrying experiment. As weird as it sounds, I started to feel the strangest tingling sensation on the outside of my left leg. It was not pins and needles, or any normal sensation that I had ever felt

before. The best way that I can describe it would be as if a low-level electrical field were somehow being applied to my skin. It stayed that way for the next five minutes, and then dissipated. Neither Jason or Stephen felt anything similar. Looking back, I cannot say for sure whether it was something paranormal or some kind of odd, temporary reaction by my skin — though to what, I am not sure. It is also possible that it was a completely psychogenic phenomenon, my brain playing tricks on itself, subconsciously influenced by the stories I had heard about Nancy. The fifth and final night of my stay was a public event, in which I would be joined by author J.B. Coates and Steven ‘Doogie’ McDougal of the Tennessee Wraith Chasers. The organizer, Gregg T.J. Justice, split us up into groups and turned us loose on the hospital. Doogie spent the night in Jim’s area, down on the ground floor. He got a lot of interaction as the evening wore on, much of it coming through a custom Spirit Box he had brought with him. (He also took it with good humor when I told him that, as far as I was concerned, a ‘wraith’ was something that Mike Tyson liked to run...) J.B. worked up on the third floor, running guests through some innovative isolation-based experiments. At least one of the participants reported feeling the distinct sensation of a hand in the small of her back, despite the fact that nobody made physical contact with her at any time. For my part, I had taken up position in the emergency department waiting room. We also made full use of the so-called Body Box, and without being biased by foreknowledge, a number of attendees reported feeling short of breath, nauseated, or light-headed — independently of one another. A couple also broke out in a cold sweat, and once again I was left wondering whether their symptoms were psychogenic, or something more. I left a little before sunrise, having spent five days and nights delving into the mysteries of the Old South Pittsburg Hospital. Several of those who volunteered there had told me that they felt drawn to the place, as though it exerted some kind of attraction to them that they could not explain. Standing in the parking lot and loading my cases into the back of my rental car, I felt a sudden shiver run through me. Probably just the cold night air, I rationalized, but as I drove slowly away from OSPH for what almost certainly wasn’t the last time, I could not resist looking up at the third floor. This time, all of the windows were dark and empty.

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Richard

“the Haunted Hospitals guy”

his haunted house in Hinsdale New York,is

perhaps the most famous haunted house in the world. Featured on vir tually ever y american television network possible, it’s haunted histor y keeps it on the para-

normal investigator’s “bucket list”. It has all of the elements of a good ghost stor y: a mysterious histor y, strange sightings on it’s proper ty, unexplainable events and even exorcism. The house on McMahon Road first gained notoriety when a book called “Echoes of a Haunting”, written by Clara Dandy of her own ex-

periences in the house was published. Clara and Phil Dandy lived in the house along with their children in the early 1970’s. During their time there, they were visited by many spirits. A priest from St. Bonaventure University was at the house more than once to per form exorcisms which worked for awhile but as time went by the Dandy family lost their battle with the paranormal and ended up leaving the house for good. As the years passed by, a few families have lived in the home but didn’t stay for long. This is where Daniel Klaes comes into the picture. Daniel purchased the infamous house and put it back into a functional condition. Today Daniel allows teams to investigate the proper ty in hopes of discovering the mysteries behind the many spirits who haunt the home.

Groups can book the house for public overnight stays and private paranormal investigations.

June

2015

Dan

realized

infamous Hinsdale House, site and structural exorcism became

lifelong

dream.

Daniel Klaes bought the Haunted Hinsdale House

The

of insect infestations available for purchase.

Dan was then contacted by producers from the Destination America televsion network who contracted the house to be featured on the hit T V series Paranormal Lockdown featuring Nick Groff and Katrina Wiedman. The Episode was the highest viewed episode of the series. Such was the phenomena that after Nick left both EVP and Geobox evidence called for his return to the house. Nick and Katrina later returned to film a Halloween special at the house that was featured on the The Learning Channe (TLC). The house was also the basis for the movie, A Haunting on The Discover y Channel. For booking information please go to www.HauntedHinsdaleHouse.com. To see our current and future events please see our Facebook Page.

@danklaes

https://www.facebook. com/fixtheHinsdaleHouse/

Check out www.DanielKlaes.com for more information.

“WE SIT AND WAIT...

DOES AN ANGEL CONTEMPLATE OUR FATE?”

If they do. Sam Bennett’s guide to Feathers will help …

ave you wondered about feather signs and their colour significance? For a start, feathers (and other things such as coins, birds, butterflies) can be signs from the angels or your guides that they are near - that they hear you and are supporting you. It can be an acknowledgement of you or your thoughts or it is their way of saying hello. These signs can also be from loved ones in spirit or from Spirit itself. It is often a magical moment. I have had many beautiful feather experiences and have watched one fall from the sky onto my daughter’s lap while we had a picnic in our backyard! Whenever you observe a sign, take note of what you were thinking just before it happened, or what is going on in your life at the moment. What could the sign be telling you? Even if you do not understand the meaning of the sign at the time, it could become clearer later, or you may be absorbing it in at a sub-conscious level. You can also ask for feather (or other) signs to come to you. And you can be specific. I once asked for confirmation that I had a male guide watching over me (which is what I was feeling and just wanted the magical validation). I asked that if it were true, I be shown in the form of a blue feather. I picked blue because it was rarer, and I saw it as an obviously male colour. Exactly one week later I went to work and as I approached some steps outside there were bright blue feathers everywhere! They were fake ones, but it didn’t matter. It was another of those magical moments. It is just a matter of believing, letting go, and staying aware. Signs often remind us to be at peace and relax into the nature and flow of life. The meanings can at times be profound, and at other times quite simple. The best advice when signs happen is to not put any pressure on yourself to understand it. Take it as an opportunity to connect, take notice of and thank the ever-present Spirit.

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If your sign is an item such as a feather, you can keep it in a special place whether that be by your bedside, on your dresser, or added to your sacred space / spiritual altar. Or you can gently release it back to nature or where you found it. The Native American people had a great spiritual understanding about feathers, their colours and their meaning. They would take the utmost care of any feathers that came their way as they saw it as a sacred gift.

innately tells us to pay attention. You have received your message, and the Angels are pleased. When black feathers come from Angels, it usually means a transition is coming. This major change is often at your soul level. RED - the root chakra (money, possessions, security, career), physical vitality/energy/life/action, passion, emotions, courage.

To answer your question about feather colours, firstly I always recommend seeking the answer within yourself first. Do you have any particular personal association with the colour? What does the colour make you think of or feel? What are the universal meanings of that colour to your knowledge? Does the feather you found act as an answer to a question or some kind of acknowledgement. Always go with your gut and the first impressions you get.

BLUE - throat chakra (communication, acceptance, speaking your truth) peace, inspiration, mental abilities/ knowledge, connection with spirits, spiritual protection and psychic awareness.

WHAT DIFFERENT FEATHER COLOURS MEAN: Here is a brief rundown of the possible colour meanings of feathers (though trust your own heart and use this as a general guide - you can experiment with this!)

GREEN - (heart chakra - love, emotions, relationships, forgiveness), health, healing, nature, environment, nature spirits, plant spirits, animal spirits, growth, fertility, harmony, unity, money, prosperity, success.

WHITE - purification, spirituality, hope, trust, faith, protection, peace, Heaven, angels, and also act as blessings and wisdom connected with moon. BLACK - a black feather is a much stronger message. It is a sign that

YELLOW - solar plexus chakra (gut intuition, happiness), blessings and wisdom connected with powerful sun energy, intelligence, playfulness, joy, cheerfulness, mental alertness, vision.

ORANGE - (sacral chakra - sex/ physical relationships, love, appetite, attraction), energy, change, optimism, and ambition, success, new ideas, will power, creativity, physical love, new ideas, will power, independence.

PINK - love, romance, feelings, friendship, caring, compassion, harmony, service, empathy, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, honour. GREY - peace and neutrality (as it is in the middle of black and white), authentic, flexibility. PURPLE - (crown chakra - universal consciousness, spiritual connection), heightened spiritual growth and experiences, higher thought. BROWN - earth, stability, grounding, endurance, home, friendship, respect. “she offers me protection, a lot of love and affection” COLOUR COMBINATIONS: Black and white mixed feathers can represent protection, or the sense of union. Black mixed with purple represents a very deep spirituality. I would take it as a deeply mystical sign. Black, white, and blue mixed feathers denote change on the horizon. Feathers with red and green in them or together would denote that you are being assisted financially. I would take it as a very lucky sign. Grey and white symbolise hope Have you ever had an angelic / paranormal feather experience? Please do let us know by emailing feathers@hauntedmagazine.co.uk Until the next time …

Sam “feather in your cap” Bennetts Haunted Magazine

THE

FLAME GAME

FIRE & THE PARANORMAL

PUTTING THE HOT INTO GHOSTS by

Morgan Knudsen

E n t i t y s e e k e r R e s e a r c h & Te a c h i n g s

s many of you have come to know, I have been in the paranormal field for around 20 years, however in my efforts to teach people in an engaging and memorable way, I have presented in theatres, used projection mapping, created limo experiences, and also learned the art of fire. It has become a core passion of mine that includes fire eating, fire breathing, vapour tricks, fire staff, and Levi-wand. Over the years, I have found it one of the most efficient tools in teaching my students one simple concept: What you have been taught may not be entirely true. Yes, I know your parents told you. Yes, I know you were scolded by every adult in your experience. Yes, I know you have read it in “science books”. Have you ever challenged it? Do you have all the facts? Yes, I know you think you do. But what if I can show you that you,

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indeed, do not? Will you shift your position on a long-held paradigm? This is currently the crux of the study of paranormal phenomenon and the core of the struggle in proper psi research. Getting the scientific community to override their paradigms of what is often false perception (usually perpetrated by false information and old belief systems, not scientific research) is a real challenge in both the academic community, as well as the general public, who are often only educated through “ghost hunting” entertainment programs or fear-based religious belief systems. “Putting students through a paranormal demonstration using fire arts is like inducting them into rehab: Can you let go of what you have learned long enough to create a new system of understanding?”

Mastery of fear is also mastery of the unknown, and, ultimately, is the beginning of freedom. If we can master the fear of the unknown, how we approach subjects like anomalous phenomenon begins to change and are less subject to our own lackbased biases. 1.

Acknowledge your paradigm might be wrong: Just because the majority of people are limping, does not mean limping is the best way to walk. Just because you were told the paranormal is “evil” and always horrifying, does not mean that is rooted in fact. Just because you were told you were unwanted or stupid by your parents or peers, does not mean it is true – but you will live to your label if you leave it unchallenged. How willing are you to challenge what you believe to be truth? Many people have not even begun to consider whether or not what they live is true, mostly because perception is reality, and if you are not willing to change your perception, the universe will deliver a mirror of your beliefs pretty consistently. The good news is: You’re in control. The bad news is: You’re in control. With fire, people have been given a strict paradigm as children: “Fire is hot. Do not touch it. It is always dangerous, and it is unpredictable.” We all know that fire has the potential to be destructive, wild, and untamed. Its behaviour is a mystery to most people, but this does not mean it cannot be understood and mastered, and the paradigm that fire cannot be touched is simply not true. There is solid science behind how and why this is the case which we will cover in number 3, but for now, simply acknowledging the idea that this long-held belief system based on 3. a lack of facts and understanding is wrong, is the beginning of this mental shift.

Surrender preconceived ideas to Source, be open to be shown something different: Now that does not mean the mental construct of fire being a solely destructive monster is easy to

conquer. Often, being near fire causes us to instantly recoil, jump away, or become hyper vigilant. It is, of course, important to be aware it is present, but the story we tell ourselves about the fire is what needs to change. Just in the same way we are required to re-frame negative messages in our heads spoken on to us by others, we must begin to hold the truth to the lie when it comes to both the paranormal and fire arts. Part of this requires being able to surrender. Our brain wants to right-fight with the new message: It wants to be right more than it wants to be happy or knowledgeable. We have trained our minds into certain behaviours and paradigms, and any attempts to dislodge them can make us feel insecure and frightened. We want to hang on to what we know because it feels safer, which, in itself, is a misnomer. False knowledge does not protect us, especially in the case of a powerful element like fire, and often our beliefs about a subject create more fear than is warranted. How willing are you to let those go, or are they internalized into your world view? Can you surrender them long enough to change your world view, or are you rooted in the idea that what you know is core to how the world operates? This decision will ultimately determine whether or not you can even hear point 3. Learn the facts: There is a strict science behind fire eating and fire breathing, and those who do not understand that science end up failing or injured. One of the most common mistakes, and most deadly, is the use of the wrong fuel. The wrong accelerant can result in severe burns, explosions, and property destruction. But let us talk about that for a

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moment. How many times have we gone into a situation with the wrong emotional accelerant or knowledge base, and watched the situation burn to the metaphorical ground? Assumptions and not taking the time to align ourselves with the proper information ends up resulting in a slow burn, and sometimes an explosion that ignites. In chemistry, this is called “flashpoint”: Temperature at and above which a liquid gives off enough flammable vapor to form a mixture with air that can be ignited by contact with a hot surface, spark, or flame. The lower the flash point, greater the fire hazard. The lower your grasp on a situation, or the greater your assumptions, the lower your flashpoint. The right fuel itself actually provides the key to creating and understanding the magic. The right fuel, such as the white gas naphtha, can provide a type of barrier between your skin and the heat of the flame (for a short time, thanks to the gifts of thermodynamics and thermal lag), allowing the fire to burn without damaging your body. Leave it too long, and the fire will bleed through, but understanding the delicate balance of science, fuel, and art allows me to create visual magic with nothing other than my mastery of fear and understanding of the facts. In parapsychology, the fuel is your intention and the knowledge will provide you brief glimpses into the wonder that is this world. Things you think you cannot touch, handle, or experience suddenly become possible with enough understanding of the science, your “fuel”, and your mastery. Breath work is another key factor in fire arts. Breath is the movement of air and life throughout your body and is the key to meditation

and connection in many spiritual practices. A lack of understanding of breath can take your life. If we do not have it, we lose consciousness. In the fire arts, inhaling at the wrong time can cause internal burns, chemical poisoning, or death. Understanding what gives us life is just as important in understanding what makes psi phenomenon tick. Consciousness and where it comes from is returned to again and again in discussions of whether it is emergent or fundamental. Research into when apparitions or paranormal experiences occur have uncovered that these often happen when the individual is most relaxed. During the ganzfeld experiments, the “receivers” work with meditation and breath to receive images, telepathically, from the “senders” in other rooms. This brings us into the moment, and

into the Now, which connects us to a deeper core within ourselves, and leads to point number 4.

Respect the fire as an entity and it will work with you, as it is an extension of you: There is a beautiful dance and partnership that develops between fire and the artist. This is reflected in many ways throughout our lives, as it is representative of the balance, we can create within ourselves, as well as with the nonphysical influences around us. Like the painter and the paintbrush, the archer and the bow, the smith and the sword, the relationships we create with our art are a direct extension of who we are. Our relationship with nonphysical, with the paranormal, with spirit (however you define it), is a direct reflection of the mastery we have within ourselves. How bright the flame burns are a direct reflection of the type of fuel, as well as the sheer amount we have. Whether or not that fuel causes an explosion or injury, is a direct response to our willingness to gather the facts and understand its properties, and how the fire behaves is a direct result of our mastery. If respect replaces fear, we begin to take the time and care to master, not only our understanding, but our mental story. Mastering the mental story, we tell ourselves allows us to pursue the unknown in a way that leaves us open to possibility, rather than closed to preconceptions.

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The paranormal is a celebration of human connection. It speaks a different language than intellect and mind, and in order to translate it, we, as humans, need to learn to speak from the heart language. What I mean by that is we have to go deeper. We see this reflected best in the double slit experiment, where we have come to understand that the outcome of the experiment itself depends on the intentions of those present. In modern physics, the double-slit experiment is a demonstration that light and matter can display characteristics of both classically defined waves and particles, and is often the result of the person’s expectations, not some environmental influence. The language in which the universe operates is often far from “logicbased”, and intellect can only bring us so far before we need to switch to a new language. What I offer here is the opportunity to pay attention to both, and understand they are intrinsically connected. It is about learning, or rather tuning into, the awareness that the intellectual story we tell ourselves needs to be continuously challenged. The paradigm that we battle is often the most crucial obstacle to our understanding of life mastery, and ultimately our freedom from fear.

Morgan

Website: entityseeker.ca Facebook: facebook.com/entityseeker Email: entityseeker@gmail.com

THE CREDITS HAUNTED MAGAZINE ISSUE 25 “Every dark paranormal cloud has a spooky silver lining”

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:

THANKS TO:

Paul Stevenson @hauntedmagazine paul@hauntedmagazine.co.uk

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DESIGNER: Andy Soar @thehauntedguy andy@hauntedmagazine.co.uk WRITING TALENT : Craig Bryant Vicky C.S. Laursen Sam Bennetts Richard Estep Mike Covell Amanda R. Woomer HiggyPop Hubert Hobux Nicky Alan Amanda Paulson Morgan Knudsen Sarah Chumacero Penny Griffiths-Morgan Jane Bland Rowley Steve Higgins Katie Waller George Bird Kate Ray Bambos Georgiou Mychailo Kazybrid

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